The larvae feed on the foliage of several species of alder and sometimes on birch, hazel and willow.

The adult striped alder sawfly has an orange-red thorax, a black abdomen and translucent wings.

The eggs are laid in slits beside the midrib of leaves of the host plant.

These larvae reach full size in July and descend to the ground where they spend the winter in a thin-walled prepupal cocoon made of sand and soil particles cemented together.

[1][2][3] The striped alder sawfly is probably native to Europe and found in southern Canada and northern United States, where it is extending its range across the continent.