Horntail

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Horntails
Eriotremex formosanus, F, side, Blount County, Tennessee 2013-02-05-14.27.09 ZS PMax (8454130937).jpg
Eriotremex formosanus , Blount County, Tennessee
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Superfamily: Siricoidea
Family: Siricidae
Subfamilies and genera

See text

Horntail or wood wasp are any of the 150 non-social species of the hymenopteran family Siricidae, a type of wood-eating sawfly. The common name "horntail" derives from the stout, spine-like structure at the end of the adult's abdomen which is present in both sexes. The ovipositor in females is typically longer and also projects posteriorly, but it is not the source of the name. Though they are not wasps, they are sometimes called wood wasps as their appearance resembles one due to mimicry. [1] A typical adult horntail is brown, blue, or black with yellow or red parts, and may often reach up to 4 cm (1.6 in) long. The pigeon horntail (Tremex columba) can grow up to 5 cm (2.0 in) long (not counting the ovipositor), among the longest of all Hymenoptera.

Contents

This family was formerly believed to be the sole living representative of the superfamily Siricoidea, a group well represented in Paleogene and Mesozoic times, but the family Anaxyelidae has been linked to this group as well. Siricidae has two subfamilies, Siricinae and Tremecinae. Siricinae infest needle-leaved trees [2] and Tremecinae infest broad-leaved trees. [2] [3] There are ten [2] living genera placed in the family, and an additional three genera described from fossils. [4] [5]

Female horntails lay their eggs in trees. The larvae bore into the wood and live in the tree for up to two years, possibly more. They typically migrate to just under the bark before pupation.

Description

Sirex noctilio ("Sirex woodwasp") from New Zealand, on Pinus radiata. The spiral groove on the ovipositor is visible. Sirex noctilio Pinus radiata.jpg
Sirex noctilio ("Sirex woodwasp") from New Zealand, on Pinus radiata . The spiral groove on the ovipositor is visible.
Giant horntail (Urocerus gigas) Urocerus gigas.jpg
Giant horntail (Urocerus gigas)

Members of three genera of horntail attack dying or recently killed balsam fir and spruce. [6] The female selects a log or unhealthy tree and settles down to bore a hole through the bark to reach the wood. The boring instrument is stiff and straight, but has a hinge that allows the female to bore perpendicular to her body axis. The insect does not push the boring tool into the wood, rather, two parts work against each other as described below. The female may make several holes before she finds wood that she considers suitable for her larva. She then lays an egg and repeats the process on other places of the same log or tree.

Once the egg hatches, the six-legged, whitish larva uses it jaws to begin excavating a long tunnel in which it will live until it is fully grown, by which time it can be up to 215 mm long. At this time, the larva will spin a silken cocoon and change into a pupa, but before this, the larva takes the precautionary measure of advancing the tunnel close to the inner bark, so that the mature, winged insect will not have to travel far through the wood and risk damaging its delicate wings, although there is a record of a Sirex-infested tree having been cut into rafters which were used in building a roof and covered with sheet-lead an eighth of an inch thick. One of the rafters contained a Sirex in either the larval or pupal stage; and when the adult insect sought its freedom, it found the way obstructed by the lead. It went right through, apparently finding lead not much more difficult to deal with than bark. [7]

Populations increase rapidly only where brood material is abundant. The life cycle usually requires two years, and adults are usually in flight from late July to early September. Wood-rotting fungi found in horntail tunnels cause very rapid deterioration of the wood and quickly reduce opportunities for timber salvage.

An ichneumon wasp ( Rhyssa persuasoria ) lays parasitoid grubs in Sirex, which kill them. [7]

Genera

Eourocerus anguliterreus holotype fore-wing (counterpart).
Ypresian Klondike Mountain Formation SR UI 99-97-08 B Eourocerus anguliterreus 2015-04-17 img1a.jpg
Eourocerus anguliterreus holotype fore-wing (counterpart).
Ypresian Klondike Mountain Formation

These genera belong to the family Siricidae [8]

These extinct genera have been referred to the family as well:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sawfly</span> Suborder of insects

Sawflies are wasp-like insects that are in the suborder Symphyta within the order Hymenoptera, alongside ants, bees, and wasps. The common name comes from the saw-like appearance of the ovipositor, which the females use to cut into the plants where they lay their eggs. The name is associated especially with the Tenthredinoidea, by far the largest superfamily in the suborder, with about 7,000 known species; in the entire suborder, there are 8,000 described species in more than 800 genera. Symphyta is paraphyletic, consisting of several basal groups within the order Hymenoptera, each one rooted inside the previous group, ending with the Apocrita which are not sawflies.

Michael S. Engel, FLS, FRES is an American paleontologist and entomologist, notable for contributions to insect evolutionary biology and classification. In connection with his studies he has undertaken field expeditions in Central Asia, Asia Minor, the Levant, Arabia, eastern Africa, the high Arctic, and South and North America, and has published more than 925 papers in scientific journals.Some of Engel's research images were included in exhibitions on the aesthetic value of scientific imagery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexandr Rasnitsyn</span> Russian entomologist (born 1936)

Alexandr Pavlovich Rasnitsyn is a Russian entomologist, expert in palaeoentomology, and Honored Scientist of the Russian Federation (2001). His scientific interests are centered on the palaeontology, phylogeny, and taxonomy of hymenopteran insects and insects in general. He has also studied broader biological problems such as evolutionary theory, the principles of phylogenetics, taxonomy, nomenclature, and palaeoecology. He has published over 300 articles and books in several languages. In August 2008 he was awarded the Distinguished Research Medal of the International Society of Hymenopterists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orussidae</span> Family of wasps

The Orussidae or the parasitic wood wasps represent a small family of sawflies ("Symphyta"). Currently, about 93 extant and four fossil species are known. They take a key position in phylogenetic analyses of Hymenoptera, because they form the sister taxon of the megadiverse apocritan wasps, and the common ancestor of Orussidae + Apocrita evolved parasitism for the first time in course of the evolution of the Hymenoptera. They are also the only sawflies with carnivorous larvae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pamphiliidae</span> Family of sawflies

Pamphiliidae is a small family within Symphyta, containing some 200 species from the temperate regions of North America and Eurasia. The larvae feed on plants, using silk to build webs or tents, or to roll leaves into tubes in which they feed, thus earning them the common names leaf-rolling sawflies or web-spinning sawflies. Some species are gregarious and the larvae live in large groups. Fossils of Pamphiliidae have been dated to the Jurassic period.

<i>Megarhyssa</i> Genus of wasps

Megarhyssa, also known as giant ichneumonid wasps, giant ichneumons, or stump stabbers, is a genus of large ichneumon wasps, with some species known for having the longest ovipositors of any insects. They are idiobiont endoparasitoids of the larvae of wood-boring horntail wasps. The ovipositor can be mistaken for a large stinger. This is a genus of holometabolous insects within subfamily Rhyssinae that includes 37 species and belongs to Ichneumonidae, the family of wasps with the highest biodiversity in the world.

<i>Tremex columba</i> Species of sawfly

Tremex columba, also known as the pigeon tremex or pigeon horntail, is a species of horntail that is native to eastern and western North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sirex woodwasp</span> Species of sawfly

The sirex woodwasp is a species of horntail, native to Europe, Asia, and northern Africa. Adults vary in length from 9 to 36 mm.

<i>Amylostereum</i> Genus of fungi

Amylostereum is the single genus in the fungal family Amylostereaceae. The genus currently comprises four saprotrophic and parasitic species, which live off living or dead wood. The Amylostereaceae cause white rot in the wood by disintegrating the tissue component lignin. They produce crust-like, partially wavy fruit bodies on the surface of infested trees, which are similar to those produced by Stereum species.

<i>Megarhyssa macrurus</i> Species of wasp

Megarhyssa macrurus, also known as the long-tailed giant ichneumonid wasp or long-tailed giant ichneumon wasp, is a species of large ichneumon wasp. It is a parasitoid, notable for its extremely long ovipositor which it uses to deposit an egg into a tunnel in dead wood bored by its host, the larva of a similarly large species of horntail.

Ypresiosirex is an extinct genus of sawfly in the horntail family Siricidae. The genus is solely known from a single Eocene fossil found in North America. At the time of its description the new genus was composed of a single species named Ypresiosirex orthosemos.

<i>Urocerus</i> Genus of sawflies

Urocerus is a genus of horntails in the family Siricidae. There are about eight described species in Urocerus.

<i>Ibalia leucospoides</i> Species of wasp

Ibalia leucospoides, the knife-shaped ibalia, is a species of ibaliid wasp in the family Ibaliidae.

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References

  1. "Sawflies & Wood Wasps". www.wlgf.org. Retrieved 2024-07-26.
  2. 1 2 3 Schiff, N. M.; Goulet, H.; Smith, D. R.; Boudreault, C.; Wilson, A. D.; Scheffler, B. E. (2012). "Siricidae (Hymenoptera: Symphyta: Siricoidea) of the western hemisphere". Canadian Journal of Arthropod Identification. 21. doi:10.3752/cjai.2012.21.
  3. Kuramitsu, Kazumu; Kosaki, Atsuya; Ishihara, Teruhito; Yamada, Hideo; Watanabe, Kyohei (2016-10-28). "Infestation of the woodwasp Tremex apicalis Matsumura (Hymenoptera, Siricidae) on the large-leaf dogwood Swida macrophylla (Wall.) with biological notes on its parasitoid wasps". Journal of Hymenoptera Research. 52: 71–79. doi: 10.3897/jhr.52.10060 . ISSN   1314-2607.
  4. Wedmann, S.; Pouillon, J. M.; Nel, A. (2014). "New Palaeogene horntail wasps (Hymenoptera, Siricidae) and a discussion of their fossil record". Zootaxa. 3869 (1): 33–43. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3869.1.3. PMID   25283896.
  5. Archibald, S.B.; Rasnitsyn, A.P. (2015). "New early Eocene Siricomorpha (Hymenoptera: Symphyta: Pamphiliidae, Siricidae, Cephidae) from the Okanagan Highlands, western North America". The Canadian Entomologist. 148 (2): 209–228. doi:10.4039/tce.2015.55. S2CID   85743832.
  6. Rose, A.H.; Lindquist, O.H. 1985. Insects of eastern spruces, fir and, hemlock, revised edition. Gov't Can., Can. For. Serv., Ottawa, For. Tech. Rep. 23. 159 p. (cited in Coates et al. 1994, cited orig ed 1977)
  7. 1 2 Bees, Wasps, Ants and Allied Insects of the British Isles, Edward Step (1932)
  8. Taeger, A.; Liston, A.D.; Prous, M.; Groll, E.K.; et al. (2018). "ECatSym – Electronic World Catalog of Symphyta (Insecta, Hymenoptera)". Senckenberg Deutsches Entomologisches Institut (SDEI), Müncheberg. Retrieved 2019-06-01.
  9. Jouault, Corentin; Pouillon, Jean-Marc; Nel, André (2020). "The first fossil horntail wasp (Hymenoptera: Siricidae) from Lower Cretaceous Crato Formation in Brazil". Palaeoentomology. 3 (4): 382–389. doi:10.11646/palaeoentomology.3.4.10. S2CID   225217001.
  10. Wang, Mei; Rasnitsyn, Alexandr P.; Han, Gang; Ren, Dong (2018). "A new genus and species of basal horntail (Hymenoptera, Siricidae) from the Lower Cretaceous of China". Cretaceous Research . 91: 195–201. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2018.06.006. S2CID   135177398.
  11. 1 2 3 Archibald, S. B.; Rasnitsyn, A. P. (2022). "The early Eocene Eourocerus anguliterreus gen. et sp. nov (Hymenoptera, Siricidae) from Republic, Washington". Zootaxa. 5105 (2): 289–295. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.5105.2.8. PMID   35391300. S2CID   247240762.

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