Sawfly
suborder of insects
Sawflies are wasp-like insects that are in the suborder Symphyta within the order Hymenoptera. The common name comes from the saw-like appearance of the ovipositor, which females use to cut into the plants where they lay their eggs. The name is associated especially with the Tenthredinoidea, by far the largest superfamily in the suborder, with about 7,000 known species in the entire suborder. There are 8,000 described species in more than 800 genera.
Despite their given taxonomic rank of suborder, Symphyta is a paraphyletic group, consisting of several basal groups within the order Hymenoptera, with each one rooted inside the previous group; the various superfamilies of insects called "sawfly" do form a natural group or clade, but this clade also includes the Apocrita – the ants, bees, and wasps – which are not considered sawflies. The primary distinction between sawflies and the Apocrita is that the adult sawflies (the imago) lack a "wasp waist" or petiole; the segments connecting the abdomen and the thorax smoothly transition between the two (leading to their scientific name). Sawflies first appeared 250 million years ago in the Triassic. The oldest superfamily, the Xyeloidea, is still extant today. Over 200 million years ago, a lineage of sawflies evolved a parasitoid lifestyle, with carnivorous larvae that ate the eggs or larvae of other insects. Sawflies are distributed globally, though they are more diverse in the northernmost hemispheres.
The public source identifies “Sawfly” as suborder of insects. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Sawfly, suborder and insects.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Sawfly”, the useful work is to connect “suborder of insects” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 26, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q615290. The Library of Congress control number is sh85117784. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
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Three-step research path
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- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Sawfly” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.