ENY 3005 Family Identification

Hymenoptera: Symphyta: Siricidae Pronunciation: sigh-RIS-si-dee  Common name: horntails

Identifying characteristics for the family Siricidae include:

• Suborder Symphyta: base of abdomen broadly joined to thorax.
• Large, stoutbodied hymenopterans.
• Front tibia with 1 apical spur.
• Dorsal spine or plate on last segment of abdomen of both sexes.

• About 20 of the 85 known species occur in North America.
• Larvae, wood borers of conifers and hardwoods, have the same spinelike projection on the last abdominal segment as do the adults.

References:

• Page 316 and plate 15 in D. J. Borror and R. E. White. 1970. A Field Guide to the Insects. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.
• Page 372 in R. G. Bland and H. E. Jaques. 1978. How to Know the Insects, 3rd ed. Dubuque, Iowa: Wm. C. Brown Co. 409 p.
• Page 703 in D. J. Borror, C. A. Triplehorn, and N. F. Johnson. 1989. An Introduction to the Study of Insects, 6th ed. Philadelphia: Saunders College Publishing. 875 p.
• Pages 125-130 in K. V. Krombein et al. 1979. Catalog of Hymenoptera in America north of Mexico. Washington : Smithsonian Institution Press. 3 volumes.
• Pages 579-583 in H. V. Daly, J. T. Doyen, and A. H. Purcell III. 1998. Introduction to Insect Biology and Diversity, 2nd ed. Oxford University Press. 680 p.

Links to other web sites

• Sawflies, Wood Wasps and Horntails -- Symphyta, Gordon's Insect World

Links to other Hymenoptera taxa: Symphyta, Cimbicidae, Diprionidae, Siricidae, Braconidae, Ichneumonidae, Chrysididae, Scoliidae, Mutillidae, Formicidae, Pompilidae, Vespidae, Sphecidae, Halictidae, Apidae.