[1][2][3] This is a very large species of Hymenoptera, with adults measuring 3 cm and larvae reaching 5 cm long.

If captured, adults may buzz and use their powerful spiny legs defensively.

[4] The fly Opheltes glaucopterus is a parasite of the prepupae stage of this sawfly.

[5] This species was originally described as Cimbex americana by William Elford Leach, who treated the genus as feminine.

However, Cimbex comes from a masculine Greek noun,[6] and the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature thus requires masculine species.