This slide from our Natural Sciences collection hosts a member of the genus Tenthredo, more commonly known as Sawflies. These delightful creatures are said to be the closest living form to the ancestor of all Hymenopterans (ants, bees, wasps and sawflies) and first appeared in the fossil record around 250 million years ago in the Triassic. They are very similar in appearance to wasps but they lack both “wasp-like waist” and a stinger. Instead of a stinger, female Sawflies possess a saw-like egg-laying tube or ovipositor, which they use to saw through plant tissue in order to deposit their eggs. This ovipositor is harmless however; due to its’ appearance is often mistaken by humans for a stinger.