Mountain Ash Sawfly vs Japanese Ice Crawler

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Mountain Ash Sawfly Japanese Ice Crawler
Scientific Name Pristiphora geniculata Galloisiana nipponensis
Order Hymenoptera Grylloblattodea
Family Tenthredinidae Grylloblattidae
Size 5-7 mm 20-25 mm
Habitat Mountains Mountains
Diet Herbivores Detritivores
Regions Europe, introduced to North America Asia
Conservation Least Concern Vulnerable

Mountain Ash Sawfly

A small blackish sawfly with pale legs whose green larvae can completely defoliate mountain ash (rowan) trees. Larvae have dark heads and feed gregariously.

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Did You Know?

Introduced to North America in the early 1900s, it quickly became the most damaging pest of ornamental mountain ash trees across the continent.

Japanese Ice Crawler

A nocturnal wingless insect found at high elevations in Japan. One of the most primitive living insects, often called a living fossil from the Permian period.

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Did You Know?

Ice crawlers are considered living fossils — their order dates back to the Permian period, 250 million years ago, before the dinosaurs evolved.