Dusky Birch Sawfly vs White Underwing

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Dusky Birch Sawfly White Underwing
Scientific Name Croesus latitarsus Catocala relicta
Order Hymenoptera Lepidoptera
Family Tenthredinidae Erebidae
Size 8-10 mm 70-85 mm wingspan
Habitat Woodlands Woodlands
Diet Herbivores Sap Feeders
Regions North America Northern United States and southern Canada
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Dusky Birch Sawfly

A medium-sized sawfly with an orange abdomen and black head and thorax. Larvae are yellowish-green with dark spots and feed in rows along the edges of birch leaves.

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Did You Know?

The larvae feed in a distinctive edge-to-edge pattern, consuming the leaf blade while leaving the midrib intact like a fishbone.

White Underwing

A striking underwing moth with white and black banded forewings that mimics birch bark. Its hindwings are black with broad white bands.

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Did You Know?

It is one of the only underwing moths with white rather than colored hindwings, matching the white bark of its birch tree hosts.