{"id":4170,"date":"2013-03-19T15:18:02","date_gmt":"2013-03-19T19:18:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/?page_id=4170"},"modified":"2025-08-05T16:26:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-05T20:26:13","slug":"horntails","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/fact-sheets\/common-name-listing\/horntails\/","title":{"rendered":"Horntails"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"a<\/a>
Pigeon Tremex (Tremex columba<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"a<\/a>
Maple Wood Wasp (Xiphydria maculata<\/i>) (Old Town, ME; 7\/12\/2025)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Horntails<\/strong>, also called wood wasps or Siricids, highly resemble wasps in appearance and although they belong to the same order as wasps (i.e. Hymenoptera),\u00a0 they are actually a type of sawfly and neither the male nor the female bites or stings.\u00a0 Sawflies are so-named because of their saw-like ovipositor which the females use to cut into plants when laying their eggs.\u00a0 Horntail females lay their eggs singly–to a depth of as much as 0.75 inches–in either hardwood or coniferous trees, especially if the trees are weakened, dying, or have been recently cut.\u00a0 Each female can lay from 300 to 400 eggs in all.\u00a0 The resulting larvae chew their way into the sapwood and heartwood of the tree, and do not complete their larval stage for two to three years.\u00a0 They form their cocoon and pupate inside the tree as well, emerging as adults in late summer\/early fall.<\/p>\n

Although the larval tunnels of horntails can range anywhere from one to two feet in length, horntail numbers are rarely so great as to cause significant damage overall.<\/p>\n

\n

Additional Information: Horntails<\/strong><\/a> <\/strong>(Cornell) — see also<\/em> this YouTube video<\/b><\/a> showing a female horntail maneuvering her ovipositor into a tree (https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=fQsPndqpvWc<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Horntails, also called wood wasps or Siricids, highly resemble wasps in appearance and although they belong to the same order as wasps (i.e. Hymenoptera),\u00a0 they are actually a type of sawfly and neither the male nor the female bites or stings.\u00a0 Sawflies are so-named because of their saw-like ovipositor which the females use to cut […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"parent":1561,"menu_order":48,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4170","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nHorntails - Home and Garden IPM from Cooperative Extension - University of Maine Cooperative Extension<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/fact-sheets\/common-name-listing\/horntails\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Horntails - Home and Garden IPM from Cooperative Extension - University of Maine Cooperative Extension\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Horntails, also called wood wasps or Siricids, highly resemble wasps in appearance and although they belong to the same order as wasps (i.e. Hymenoptera),\u00a0 they are actually a type of sawfly and neither the male nor the female bites or stings.\u00a0 Sawflies are so-named because of their saw-like ovipositor which the females use to cut […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/fact-sheets\/common-name-listing\/horntails\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Home and Garden IPM from Cooperative Extension\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-08-05T20:26:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2010\/11\/Horntail.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"467\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"393\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/fact-sheets\/common-name-listing\/horntails\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/fact-sheets\/common-name-listing\/horntails\/\",\"name\":\"Horntails - Home and Garden IPM from Cooperative Extension - University of Maine Cooperative Extension\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/fact-sheets\/common-name-listing\/horntails\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/fact-sheets\/common-name-listing\/horntails\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2010\/11\/Horntail-300x252.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-03-19T19:18:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-05T20:26:13+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/fact-sheets\/common-name-listing\/horntails\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/fact-sheets\/common-name-listing\/horntails\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/fact-sheets\/common-name-listing\/horntails\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2010\/11\/Horntail.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2010\/11\/Horntail.jpg\",\"width\":467,\"height\":393,\"caption\":\"Species of Horntail (also called Wood Wasps) (this one is the Pigeon Horntail, Tremex columba)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/fact-sheets\/common-name-listing\/horntails\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Information \/ Fact Sheets\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/fact-sheets\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Alphabetical List of Critters\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/fact-sheets\/common-name-listing\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Horntails\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/\",\"name\":\"Home and Garden IPM from Cooperative Extension\",\"description\":\"Information you can use. Research you can trust.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Horntails - Home and Garden IPM from Cooperative Extension - University of Maine Cooperative Extension","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/fact-sheets\/common-name-listing\/horntails\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Horntails - Home and Garden IPM from Cooperative Extension - University of Maine Cooperative Extension","og_description":"Horntails, also called wood wasps or Siricids, highly resemble wasps in appearance and although they belong to the same order as wasps (i.e. Hymenoptera),\u00a0 they are actually a type of sawfly and neither the male nor the female bites or stings.\u00a0 Sawflies are so-named because of their saw-like ovipositor which the females use to cut […]","og_url":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/fact-sheets\/common-name-listing\/horntails\/","og_site_name":"Home and Garden IPM from Cooperative Extension","article_modified_time":"2025-08-05T20:26:13+00:00","og_image":[{"width":467,"height":393,"url":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2010\/11\/Horntail.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/fact-sheets\/common-name-listing\/horntails\/","url":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/fact-sheets\/common-name-listing\/horntails\/","name":"Horntails - Home and Garden IPM from Cooperative Extension - University of Maine Cooperative Extension","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/fact-sheets\/common-name-listing\/horntails\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/fact-sheets\/common-name-listing\/horntails\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2010\/11\/Horntail-300x252.jpg","datePublished":"2013-03-19T19:18:02+00:00","dateModified":"2025-08-05T20:26:13+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/fact-sheets\/common-name-listing\/horntails\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/fact-sheets\/common-name-listing\/horntails\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/fact-sheets\/common-name-listing\/horntails\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2010\/11\/Horntail.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2010\/11\/Horntail.jpg","width":467,"height":393,"caption":"Species of Horntail (also called Wood Wasps) (this one is the Pigeon Horntail, Tremex columba)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/fact-sheets\/common-name-listing\/horntails\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Information \/ Fact Sheets","item":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/fact-sheets\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Alphabetical List of Critters","item":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/fact-sheets\/common-name-listing\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Horntails"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/#website","url":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/","name":"Home and Garden IPM from Cooperative Extension","description":"Information you can use. Research you can trust.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"taxonomy_info":[],"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":{"display_name":"charlesa","author_link":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/author\/carmstrong-2\/"},"comment_info":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/60"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4170"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4170\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15698,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4170\/revisions\/15698"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}