Invasive-insect
Guides
Pristiphora rufipes
columbine sawfly
Pristiphora rufipes, commonly known as the columbine sawfly, is a non-native sawfly species native to central Europe that was first discovered in North America in Canada in 1963. It has since spread across the eastern seaboard to the Rocky Mountains, becoming a significant pest of columbine plants (Aquilegia spp.). Adult females use a saw-like ovipositor to insert eggs into leaf tissue, and the caterpillar-like larvae feed on columbine foliage, capable of completely defoliating plants. The species exhibits multiple generations per year in warmer regions, with two generations common in the mid-Atlantic and three or more in England.