Red-winged Spider Wasp vs Pine Webspinning Sawfly

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Red-winged Spider Wasp Pine Webspinning Sawfly
Scientific Name Tachypompilus ferrugineus Cephalcia arvensis
Order Hymenoptera Hymenoptera
Family Pompilidae Pamphiliidae
Size 18-28 mm 10-14 mm
Habitat Deserts & Drylands Farmland
Diet Predators Omnivores
Regions North America Central and Eastern Europe
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Red-winged Spider Wasp

A large rusty-red spider wasp that hunts wolf spiders and other large ground spiders. It drags paralyzed prey across the ground to its burrow.

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Did You Know?

Females can drag spiders many times their own weight across rough terrain to reach their nesting burrows.

Pine Webspinning Sawfly

A flat-bodied sawfly with long antennae and dark coloring. Larvae live communally in silk webs spun among spruce needles.

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Did You Know?

Periodic outbreaks in spruce monocultures can last several years, with the silk nests becoming a conspicuous feature of infested forests.