Published online by Cambridge University Press: 31 May 2012
The oviposition behaviour of Neodiprion sawflies has been the subject of much investigation in recent years. The impetus for this interest seems to lie in the paper by Atwood and Peck (1943), in which it was suggested that the number and spacing of eggs on needles were a useful tool for the identification of memhers of this important group of conifer defoliators. Ghent (1955) has analysed the egg clusters of N. pratti banksianae Roh., and Ghent and Wallace (1958) have investigated the behaviour responsible for the pairing of eggs on adjacent jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb. ) needles by N. swainei Midd. More recently, Ghent (1959) has presented a study of the factors determining the spacing of eggs by the European pine sawfly, N. sertifer (Geoff.). Of these, the 1955 and 1959 papers, in addition to making valuable contributions to our understanding of the behaviour of adults, cast doubt on the usefulness of the number and spacing of eggs as identifying characters in these species.