Silver Birch Web-Spinning Sawfly vs Steel-blue Cricket Hunter

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Silver Birch Web-Spinning Sawfly Steel-blue Cricket Hunter
Scientific Name Pamphilius sylvaticus Chlorion aerarium
Order Hymenoptera Hymenoptera
Family Pamphiliidae Sphecidae
Size 9-12 mm 18-28 mm
Habitat Woodlands Deserts & Drylands
Diet Herbivores Predators
Regions Europe North America
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Silver Birch Web-Spinning Sawfly

A flat-bodied sawfly with long filiform antennae and a broad head. Larvae roll or fold birch leaves with silk and feed within the shelters.

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Did You Know?

The flattened body shape of pamphiliid sawflies is an adaptation that allows adults to squeeze into tight spaces in leaf litter and bark crevices.

Steel-blue Cricket Hunter

A large metallic blue wasp that hunts field crickets and mole crickets. It drags paralyzed prey into burrows to provision its nest cells.

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Did You Know?

It enters cricket burrows headfirst to sting and extract its prey from underground.