Willow Shoot Sawfly vs Doorkeeper Ant

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Willow Shoot Sawfly Doorkeeper Ant
Scientific Name Janus cynosbati Colobopsis truncata
Order Hymenoptera Hymenoptera
Family Cephidae Formicidae
Size 8-11 mm 3-6 mm
Habitat Hedgerows Woodlands
Diet Omnivores Gall Makers
Regions North America Southern and Central Europe
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Willow Shoot Sawfly

A slender, dark stem sawfly whose larvae bore into the shoots of willow and rose. Females cause distinctive wilting of shoot tips by girdling the stem.

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Did You Know?

The wilted, flagging shoot tips caused by this sawfly are often the most visible sign of its presence in wild rose thickets.

Doorkeeper Ant

A European carpenter ant in which soldiers have uniquely flattened, plug-shaped heads used to block nest entrances in plant stems. Workers are bicolored yellow and dark brown. They nest in hollow twigs and galls of various trees.

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Did You Know?

Soldier ants literally use their flattened heads as living doors, opening the nest entrance only when nestmates present the correct chemical password.