Large Green Sawfly Larvae 02.m4a

Group of large green sawfly larvae, indoors on a 3mm melamine board. About 50 individuals were in the group, recorded with a Rode NT55 mic on a Marantz PMD661, 13 October 2017, 3:01PM. The mic was about 100mm from the group.

The larvae make a soft, continuous, hissing/crackling sound, with the occasional thump with their tails to indicate their presence to others in the group. They live on eucalyptus leaves, often descending to the ground and moving in a swarm to another location.

Take with a grain of salt anyone who says these larvae strip trees. We've had thousands of these larvae in our yard over the past 30 years, and have never had a problem amongst our dozen or so gum trees. I've also noticed them across the road on young gum trees only 3mm high – and again, little evidence of leaf-stripping.

They're a beautiful larvae, a delight to watch, photograph and record.

A video of a similar group can be downloaded here: http://www.mediafire.com/file/fhpk3crixndkii3/Vi2192.m4v