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.
The Ichneumonidae, also known as ichneumon wasps, ichneumonid wasps, ichneumonids, or Darwin wasps, are a family of parasitoid wasps of the insect order Hymenoptera. They are one of the most diverse groups within the Hymenoptera with roughly 25,000 species described as of 2016. However, this likely represents less than a quarter of their true richness as reliable estimates are lacking, along with much of the most basic knowledge about their ecology, distribution, and evolution. It is estimated that there are more species in this family than there are species of birds and mammals combined. Ichneumonid wasps, with very few exceptions, attack the immature stages of holometabolous insects and spiders, eventually killing their hosts. They thus fulfill an important role as regulators of insect populations, both in natural and semi-natural systems, making them promising agents for biological control.
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 used to pierce the host's bark to allow the eggs to be inserted into the wood. 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 can grow up to 5 cm (2.0 in) long, among the longest of all Hymenoptera.
The Braconidae are a family of parasitoid wasps. After the closely related Ichneumonidae, braconids make up the second-largest family in the order Hymenoptera, with about 17,000 recognized species and many thousands more undescribed. One analysis estimated a total between 30,000 and 50,000, and another provided a narrower estimate between 42,000 and 43,000 species.
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.
The Gasteruptiidae are one of the more distinctive families among the apocritan wasps, with surprisingly little variation in appearance for a group that contains around 500 species in two subfamilies and with 6 genera worldwide. They are members of Evanioidea.
The Stephanidae, sometimes called crown wasps, are a family of parasitoid wasps. They are the only living members of the superfamily Stephanoidea. Stephanidae has at least 345 living species in 11 genera. The family is considered cosmopolitan in distribution, with the highest species concentrations in subtropical and moderate climate zones. Stephanidae also contain four extinct genera described from both compression fossils and inclusions in amber.
Megalyroidea is a small hymenopteran superfamily of wasps that includes a single family, Megalyridae, with eight extant genera and 49 described species. Modern megalyrids are found primarily in the southern hemisphere, though fossils have only been found in the northern hemisphere. The most abundant and species-rich megalyrid fauna is in Australia. Another peak of diversity appears to be in the relict forests of Madagascar, but most of these species are still undescribed.
A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. The wasps do not constitute a clade, a complete natural group with a single ancestor, as bees and ants are deeply nested within the wasps, having evolved from wasp ancestors. Wasps that are members of the clade Aculeata can sting their prey.
The Doryctinae or doryctine wasps are a large subfamily of braconid parasitic wasps (Braconidae). Numerous genera and species formerly unknown to science are being described every year. This subfamily is presumably part of a clade containing otherwise any or all of the Alysiinae, Braconinae, Gnamptodontinae, Opiinae and Ypsistocerinae, and might be most closely related to the last one of these. Whether the Rogadinae are also part of this group is not known.
Metapelma archetypon is an extinct species of parasitic wasp in the Metapelmatidae genus Metapelma. The species is solely known from the Early Eocene Baltic amber deposits in the Baltic Sea region of Europe. Of the thirty seven described species in the genus Metapelma, M. archetypon is the only species known from the fossil record.
Protostephanus is an extinct genus of crown wasp in the Hymenoptera family Stephanidae known from an Eocene fossil found in the United States of America. The genus contains a single described species, Protostephanus ashmeadi placed in the stephanid subfamily Stephaninae.
Cystomastacoides is a genus of parasitoid wasps belonging to the family Braconidae. It was named by Dutch entomologist Kees van Achterberg in 1997 from a single species Cystomastacoides coxalis discovered in Yunnan, China. There are only four species described in the genus, the other three having been reported on 19 March 2013. As typical ichneumon wasps, they are characterised by a deadly parasitoid behaviour. Their larvae grow inside the body of other insects, such as caterpillars, and feed on their internal organs inside the body until they emerge.
Dinotrema is a genus of wasps in the family Braconidae. Species are amongst the largest parasitoid wasps in the tribe Alysiini (Alysiinae). There are approximately 350 species described around worldwide.
Rhyssinae is a subfamily of parasitoid wasps in the family Ichneumonidae. It contains eight genera and 259 described species, but there are likely many undiscovered species.
Aulacus is a genus of aulacids, ensigns, and gasteruptiids in the family Aulacidae. There are 77 species of Aulacus.
Stephanus serrator is a species of parasitic wasp in the family Stephanidae, the crown wasps. This species is native to much of Europe and is to be seen in the breeding season on recently dead timber or wood products. The larvae are parasitoids of the larvae of wood-boring beetles.
Stephanus is a genus of parasitoid wasps in the family Stephanidae. Records of species are from Europe and Asia.
The Acampsohelconinae are a subfamily of braconid parasitoid wasps. Extant members of this subfamily were previously included in the Helconinae, Blacinae, or Sigalphinae. The four genera included are †Acampsohelcon, Afrocampsis, Canalicephalus, and Urosigalphus.
Lyciscidae is a family of chalcid wasps. The genera comprising this family were previously placed in the Cleonyminae subfamily of a paraphyletic Pteromalidae.
