The superfamily Siricoidea is an archaic group of the order

Hymenoptera Hymenoptera is a large order (biology), order of insects, comprising the sawfly, sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants. Over 150,000 living species of Hymenoptera have been described, in addition to over 2,000 extinct ones. Many of the species are Par ...

, consisting of six families (four extinct) of

xylophagous Xylophagy is a term used in ecology to describe the habits of an herbivorous animal whose diet consists primarily (often solely) of wood. The word derives from Greek ''ξυλοφάγος'' (''xulophagos'') "eating wood", from ''ξύλον'' (') ...

sawflies Sawflies are the insects of 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 ...

. The group is well represented in early

Tertiary Tertiary ( ) is a widely used but obsolete term for the geologic period from 66 million to 2.6 million years ago. The period began with the demise of the non-avian dinosaurs in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, at the start ...

and

Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era ( ), also called the Age of Reptiles, the Age of Conifers, and colloquially as the Age of the Dinosaurs is the second-to-last era of Earth's geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceo ...

times, but a number of living taxa remain, including the family

Anaxyelidae Anaxyelidae is a family of incense cedar wood wasps in the order Hymenoptera. It contains only one living genus, '' Syntexis'', which has only a single species, native to Western North America. Fossils of the family extend back to the Middle Jura ...

, which has recently been linked to this group (it was previously placed in the

Xyeloidea The Xyelidae are a comparatively species-poor family of sawflies comprising about 80 extant species in five genera worldwide and is the only family in the superfamily Xyeloidea. The fossil record of the family is extensive, comprising more than 1 ...

). The female

ovipositor The ovipositor is a tube-like organ used by some animals, especially insects, for the laying of eggs. In insects, an ovipositor consists of a maximum of three pairs of appendages. The details and morphology of the ovipositor vary, but typical ...

is typically long and projects posteriorly, and is used to drill into wood.

Families

These six families belong to the superfamily Siricoidea: * Siricidae (horntails) *

Xiphydriidae Xiphydriidae are a family of wood wasps that includes around 150 species. They are located all over the world including North and South America, Australia, Europe, and others. Xiphydriidae larvae are wood borers in dead trees or branches of a ran ...

(wood wasps, sometimes treated as a separate superfamily, Xiphydrioidea) * † Daohugoidae * † Protosiricidae * † Pseudosiricidae * † Sinosiricidae

References

Sawflies Hymenoptera superfamilies {{sawfly-stub