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The Collaborative International Dictionary
Sawfly

Sawfly \Saw"fly`\, n. (Zo["o]l.) Any one of numerous species of hymenopterous insects belonging to the family Tenthredinid[ae]. The female usually has an ovipositor containing a pair of sawlike organs with which she makes incisions in the leaves or stems of plants in which to lay the eggs. The larv[ae] resemble those of Lepidoptera.

Wiktionary
sawfly

n. Any of various flying insects of the suborder Symphyta whose ovipositor is long and often serrated and is used to cut into plants to lay eggs.

WordNet
sawfly

n. insect whose female has a saw-like ovipositor for inserting eggs into the leaf or stem tissue of a host plant

Wikipedia
Sawfly

Sawflies or wood wasps are insects belonging to suborder Symphyta of the order Hymenoptera. Sawflies are distinguishable from most other hymenopterans by the broad connection between the abdomen and the thorax, and by their caterpillar-like larvae. The common name comes from the saw-like appearance of the ovipositor, which the females use to cut into the plants where they lay their eggs. Large populations of certain sawfly species can cause substantial economic damage to forests and cultivated plants.

Usage examples of "sawfly".

It has somewhat more power, and it accommodates sixteen Sawfly ballistic missiles with a range of perhaps twenty-two hundred miles.

Britton was unable to determine off-hand the species of the specimens I sent him, but you may know the sawfly larvae by their habit of collecting in a row like soldiers around the edge of the leaf and when the branch is disturbed, their heads and tails stand up.

They are particularly effective on aphids, earwigs, leaf hoppers, sawflies, leaf miners, spider mites, thrips, scale and Whiteflies.

Farmers battled Terran immigrants like tarnished plant bugs, sawflies, wooly aphids, coddling moths, leafrollers, lesser apple worms, and the arch enemy: plum curculio.

It seemed better to obey, rather than fight, for there were sawflies and hammerflies and screwdriverflies that could be most awkward to fend off.

Her battlegroup was disbanded as Bayonet and Sawfly, the last surviving units, were repaired and transferred to other squadrons, and even her surviving staff was on the binnacle list.

Shoeflies march up, bowflies shoot arrows, sawflies, hammerflies, screwdriverflies work furiously on fly-by-night construction schemes.