During the past several yrs. a sawfly, Neodiprion americanum, has caused defoliation of pines in scattered areas in eastern Virginia. Adults emerge in Oct. and deposit eggs in the needles of the top branches of pine trees 20-30 ft. tall. The eggs pass the winter in the needles and hatching takes place late in Apr. or early in May. Larval feeding is completed by early June and the prepupae penetrate the soil to a depth of several inches where they spin cocoons. Pupation takes place in Sept. Adults remain within their cocoons about 1 week prior to emergence in mid-Oct. Some prepupae remain in diapause in their cocoons in the soil until the autumn of the following yr. There is only 1 generation each yr. Since the larvae eat only the old needles of the pines, the trees are not killed by repeated defoliation; however, wood production of defoliated trees is reduced. No outbreaks of bark beetles have been noted to follow defoliation by Neodiprion americanum.