''Xeris'' is a genus of

horntail 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 u ...

s found in North America and Eurasia.

Achille Costa Achille Costa (10 August 1823, Lecce – 17 November 1899 Rome) was an Italian zoologist working mainly in entomology who was appointed director of the Zoological Museum of Naples. He founded the entomological collections in Naples and described ...

circumscribed the genus in 1894.

Synonyms

In 1987, Malkiat S. Saini and Devinder Singh

circumscribed In geometry, the circumscribed circle or circumcircle of a polygon is a circle that passes through all the vertices of the polygon. The center of this circle is called the circumcenter and its radius is called the circumradius. Not every polyg ...

a new genus, ''Neoxeris'' upon their description of a new species, which they called ''Neoxeris melanocephala''. In 2012, ''N. melanocephala'' was transferred to ''Xeris'', making ''Neoxeris'' a

junior synonym The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. * In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linna ...

. ''X. melanocephalus'' was later synonymized with ''X. himalayensis''.

Description

Characteristic features of ''Xeris'' compared to other genera of Siricidae genera include: a hind wing with which lacks a cell cup, a small vertical ridge behind the eye, and a metatibial spur.

Distribution

''Xeris'' species are found in North America and Eurasia. In North America, they're found from the

boreal forests Taiga (; rus, тайга́, p=tɐjˈɡa; relates to Mongolic and Turkic languages), generally referred to in North America as a boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruces ...

in Alaska and Canada south through

Chiapas Chiapas (; Tzotzil language, Tzotzil and Tzeltal language, Tzeltal: ''Chyapas'' ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Chiapas), is one of the states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, ...

in southern Mexico. They are found in temperate and boreal regions of Eurasia as well as mountains of southern Eurasia including Morocco, India, China, and Taiwan.

Species

, ''Xeris'' consists of sixteen species:

''X. caudatus''

Xeris caudatus ''Xeris'' is a genus of horntails found in North America and Eurasia. Achille Costa circumscribed the genus in 1894. Synonyms In 1987, Malkiat S. Saini and Devinder Singh circumscribed a new genus, ''Neoxeris'' upon their description of a new spe ...

'' was initially placed in the genus ''

Urocerus ''Urocerus'' is a genus of horntails in the family Siricidae. There are about eight described species in ''Urocerus''. Species These species belong to the genus ''Urocerus'': * '' Urocerus albicornis'' ( Fabricius, 1781) (white horned horntail) ...

'' by

Ezra Townsend Cresson Ezra Townsend Cresson, also Ezra Townsend senior (18 June 1838, in Byberry – 19 April 1926, in Swarthmore) was an American entomologist who specialised in the Hymenoptera order of insects. He wrote ''Synopsis of the families and genera of the H ...

in his

species description A species description is a formal description of a newly discovered species, usually in the form of a scientific paper. Its purpose is to give a clear description of a new species of organism and explain how it differs from species that have be ...

. Its type locality is the

Colorado Territory The Territory of Colorado was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 28, 1861, until August 1, 1876, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Colorado. The territory was organized in the w ...

''X. chiricahua''

Xeris chiricahua ''Xeris'' is a genus of horntails found in North America and Eurasia. Achille Costa circumscribed the genus in 1894. Synonyms In 1987, Malkiat S. Saini and Devinder Singh circumscribed a new genus, ''Neoxeris'' upon their description of a new spe ...

'' was described by David R. Smith. Its type locality is Rustler Park,

Chiricahua Mountains The Chiricahua Mountains massif is a large mountain range in southeastern Arizona which is part of the Basin and Range province of the west and southwestern United States and northwest Mexico; the range is part of the Coronado National Forest. T ...

, Arizona.

''X. cobosi''

Xeris cobosi ''Xeris'' is a genus of horntails found in North America and Eurasia. Achille Costa circumscribed the genus in 1894. Synonyms In 1987, Malkiat S. Saini and Devinder Singh circumscribed a new genus, ''Neoxeris'' upon their description of a new sp ...

'' was first described by M. G. de Viedma and F. J. Suárez as a subspecies of ''X. spectrum''. It was moved to the species level in 2015. Its type locality is Tizi-Ifri, Morocco.

''X. degrooti''

'' Xeris degrooti'' was described in 2015 by Henri Goulet. It is named in honor of Peter de Groot. Its type locality is

Pennington County, South Dakota Pennington County is a county in the U.S. state of South Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 109,222, making it the second-most populous county in South Dakota. Its county seat is Rapid City. The county was created in 1875, and wa ...

''X. himalayensis''

Xeris himalayensis ''Xeris'' is a genus of horntails found in North America and Eurasia. Achille Costa circumscribed the genus in 1894. Synonyms In 1987, Malkiat S. Saini and Devinder Singh circumscribed a new genus, ''Neoxeris'' upon their description of a new spe ...

'' was described by

James Chester Bradley James Chester Bradley (1884 in West Chester, Pennsylvania – 1975 in Ithaca, New York) was an American entomologist who specialised in Hymenoptera. He graduated from Cornell University (A.B. 1906, Ph.D. 1910) and the University of California ...

in 1934. Its type locality is Deoban,

Chakrata Chakrata is a cantonment town and also a sub district/tehsil, in Dehradun district. in the state of Uttarakhand, India. It lies between the Tons and Yamuna rivers, at an elevation of 2118 m, 98 km from the state capital, Dehradun. Chakra ...

, India. In 2015, it became considered the

senior synonym The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. * In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linnae ...

of ''X. melanocephalus'' , whose type locality is

Dalhousie, India Dalhousie ( hi, script=Latn, ḍalhauzī, ) is a hill station, near town of Chamba in Chamba district in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. It is situated on five hills and has an elevation of above sea level. Etymology Dalhousie Town was n ...

''X. indecisus''

Xeris indecisus ''Xeris'' is a genus of horntails found in North America and Eurasia. Achille Costa circumscribed the genus in 1894. Synonyms In 1987, Malkiat S. Saini and Devinder Singh circumscribed a new genus, ''Neoxeris'' upon their description of a new spe ...

'' was initially described by MacGillivray as a species in ''Urocerus''. Its type locality is near

Olympia, Washington Olympia is the capital of the U.S. state of Washington and the county seat and largest city of Thurston County. It is southwest of the state's most populous city, Seattle, and is a cultural center of the southern Puget Sound region. European ...

. T. C. Maa classified it as a subspecies of ''X. morrisoni'' in 1949, but in 2012 it was reinstated to the species level.

''X. malaisei''

Xeris malaisei ''Xeris'' is a genus of horntails found in North America and Eurasia. Achille Costa circumscribed the genus in 1894. Synonyms In 1987, Malkiat S. Saini and Devinder Singh circumscribed a new genus, ''Neoxeris'' upon their description of a new spe ...

'' was initially described as a subspecies of ''X. spectrum'', but was promoted to the species level in 2015.

''X. melancholicus''

Xeris melancholicus ''Xeris'' is a genus of horntails found in North America and Eurasia. Achille Costa circumscribed the genus in 1894. Synonyms In 1987, Malkiat S. Saini and Devinder Singh circumscribed a new genus, ''Neoxeris'' upon their description of a new spe ...

'' was described by

John O. Westwood John Obadiah Westwood (22 December 1805 – 2 January 1893) was an English entomologist and archaeologist also noted for his artistic talents. He published several illustrated works on insects and antiquities. He was among the first entomologist ...

, who placed it in the genus ''

Sirex ''Sirex'' is a genus of wasps in the family Siricidae, the horntails or wood wasps. They inject eggs with fungal endosymbionts into wood. The fungus is contained in a mycangium which nourishes it with secretions, and in turn it digests wood for ...

''. He listed the type locality as "America

Septentrional Septentrional, meaning "of the north", is a Latinate adjective sometimes used in English. It is a form of the Latin noun ''septentriones'', which refers to the seven stars of the ''Plough'' (Big Dipper), occasionally called the ''Septentrion'' ...

is".

''X. morrisoni''

'' Xeris morrisoni'' was described by

in 1880; he initially placed it in the genus ''

''.

''X. pallicoxae''

'' Xeris pallicoxae'' was described by Henri Goulet in 2015. The specific name means "pale coxae".

''X. spectrum''

Xeris spectrum ''Xeris spectrum'' is a kind of horntail or wood wasp, that lives in coniferous forests. It is large wasp with a powerful ovipositor in females. Unlike other Siricid Wood wasps, ''Xeris spectrum ''does not have symbiotic fungi to aid its larva ...

'' was described by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

in 1758. Costa designated it to be the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

of ''Xeris''.

''X. tarsalis''

'' Xeris tarsalis'' was described by

in 1880. Its type locality is

Washington Territory The Territory of Washington was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1853, until November 11, 1889, when the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Washington. It was created from the ...

, and Cresson initially placed it in the genus ''

''.

''X. tropicalis''

'' Xeris tropicalis'' was described by Henri Goulet in 2012. Its type locality is San Cristobal de las Casas, in southern Mexico; the specific name ''tropicalis'' "tropical" reflects its habitat.

''X. umbra''

'' Xeris umbra'' was described by Henri Goulet in 2015; its type locality is

Yunnan Province Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the C ...

, China and its name ''umbra'' "shadow" refers to the species' dark color.

''X. xanthoceros''

'' Xeris xanthoceros'' was described by Henri Goulet in 2015. Its specific name means "yellow horn", referring to the female's

flagellum A flagellum (; ) is a hairlike appendage that protrudes from certain plant and animal sperm cells, and from a wide range of microorganisms to provide motility. Many protists with flagella are termed as flagellates. A microorganism may have f ...

. The type locality is

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in Southwest China, the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is ...

, China.

''X. xylocola''

'' Xeris xylocola'' was described by Henri Goulet in 2015. The specific name means "living in wood". Its type locality is

Houaphanh Province Houaphanh province ( Laotian: ຫົວພັນ ; Romanization of Lao: ''Houaphan'') is a province in eastern Laos. Its capital is Xam Neua. Houaphanh province covers an area of . The province is bordered by Vietnam to the north, east, and s ...

, Laos.

References

Siricidae Taxa named by Achille Costa {{Sawfly-stub