identifying slugs in the Dandenongs

[sim1oz]

We did the Dandenong Ranges Walk in Tempest's book "Weekend Walks Around Melbourne" in mid-November. Starting with the 1000 steps (Kokoda Memorial walk), we continued hiking up to Kalorama, stayed overnight at a B&B (with a fabulous sauna & hot tub), and walked back down to Belgrave the next day. With a few extra detours added in, the walk was around 40km.

We saw these huge slugs/grubs on the track and wondered what they are. Any ideas?

Slugs on the trail

[byrnesy8]

Hi Sim1oz,

The images look like spitfire sawfly larvae - which end up being wasps. The ones I have seen are usually black but the link below shows some that look very similar to your image.

Cheers

Paul

http://lepidoptera.butterflyhouse.com.a ... awfly.html

[sim1oz]

Hi Paul,
Thanks for the link! The larvae in the 7th image look the same as those I my photo. I have never seen anything like them before until the several clusters we saw on that walk. I am glad to have that mystery solved
Cheers,
Simone