The Pamphilioidea are a small superfamily within the Symphyta (the sawflies), containing some 250 living species restricted to the temperate regions of

Eurasia Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelago ...

and North America. These hymenopterans share the distinctive feature of a very large, almost prognathous head, which is widest ventrally. The superfamily contains two extant families. The

Pamphiliidae Pamphiliidae (sometimes incorrectly spelled Pamphilidae) is a small wasp family within Symphyta, containing some 200 species from the temperate regions of North America and Eurasia. The larvae feed on plants (often conifers), using silk to bu ...

are the leaf-rolling or web-spinning sawflies such as ''

Acantholyda ''Acantholyda'' is a genus of sawflies. Subgenera The genus is divided into two subgenera: *''Acantholyda'' Costa, 1894 *''Itycorsia'' Konow, 1897 Species * '' A. aequorea'' Middlekauff, 1958 – North America (Calif) * '' A. aglaia'' Zheloch ...

'', ''

Neurotoma ''Neurotoma'' is a genus of insects belonging to the family Pamphiliidae Pamphiliidae (sometimes incorrectly spelled Pamphilidae) is a small wasp family within Symphyta, containing some 200 species from the temperate regions of North America ...

'', and ''

Pamphilius ''Pamphilius'' is a genus of leaf-rolling sawflies within the Symphyta belonging to the family Pamphiliidae. Description Species of this genus can reach a length of . Body is usually black with yellowish spots on the head. Legs are yellow and ...

'' whose larvae eat plants such as conifers; the adults have simple filiform antennae. The

Megalodontesidae The Megalodontesidae (until recently spelled Megalodontidae, a name already in use for a family of fossil molluscs) are a small family of sawflies, containing a single living genus, '' Megalodontes'', with some 40 species restricted to the temper ...

include genera such as '' Megalodontes'' and several fossil groups. Their larvae eat herbaceous plants, while the adults have serrate or pectinate antennae.

References

Bibliography

* , in Zhang, Z.-Q. (ed.) Animal Biodiversity: An Outline of Higher-level Classification and Survey of Taxonomic Richness (Addenda 2013) * Rasnitsyn, Alexandr P.; Zhang, Haichun & Wang, Bo (2006): Bizarre fossil insects: web-spinning sawflies of the genus ''Ferganolyda'' (Vespida, Pamphilioidea) from the Middle Jurassic of Daohugou, Inner Mongolia, China. '' Palaeontology'' 49(4): 907-916. PDF fulltext
* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q19896587 Sawflies Hymenoptera superfamilies