Family XIPHYDRIIDAE

Austrocyrta sp., dorsal view

© Copyright John Jennings. Adelaide University.

Xiphydriidae

© Copyright John Jennings. Adelaide University.

Museums

Regional Maps

• Smith, D.R. 1978. Suborder Symphyta. Hymenopterorum Catalogus 14: 1-193 [102]

Introduction

The sawfly family Xiphydriidae is poorly represented and rarely collected in Australia with just seven described species in two genera, Austrocyrta Riek (2 sp.) and Rhysacephala Benson (5 spp.). There are, however, a number of undescribed taxa in various collections.

In the Northern Hemisphere xiphydriid larvae are known to develop in the wood of angiosperms, usually in small branches of deciduous trees such as Salicaceae, Betulaceae, Aceraceae, and Ulmaceae (Gauld & Bolton 1996), where they depend on symbiotic fungi in their tunnels.

Very little is known about the biology of Australasian xiphydriids. Rhysacephala warraensis Jennings & Austin from Tasmania has been reared from ‘horizontal’, Anodopetalum biglandulosum (Cunoniaceae), the first confirmed host record for an Australian xiphydriid (Jennings et al. 2009). In New Zealand, the larvae of Moaxiphia deceptus (Smith) bore in twigs of the evergreen shrub Coprosma robusta (Rubiaceae), and the larvae of M. duniana (Gourlay) bore in twigs of the evergreen southern beeches Nothofagus fusca and N. menziesii (Fagacae) (Valentine & Walker 1991).

General References

Gauld, I. & Bolton, B. (eds) 1996. The Hymenoptera. Oxford : Oxford University Press 2nd Edn., 332 pp.

Jennings, J.T. & Austin, A.D. & Bashford, R. 2009. First record of the woodwasp family Xiphydriidae from Tasmania with a description of a new species and host record. Australian Journal of Entomology 48: 25-28

Jennings, J.T. & Austin, A.D. in Jennings, J.T., Austin, A.D. & Schiff, N.M. 2009. The Australian endemic woodwasp genus Austrocyrta Riek (Hymenoptera: Xiphydriidae). Australian Journal of Entomology 48: 29-35

Smith, D.R. 1978. Suborder Symphyta. Hymenopterorum Catalogus 14: 1-193

Valentine, E.W. & Walker, A.K. 1991. Annotated Catalogue of New Zealand Hymenoptera. NZ : DSIR Plant Protection Report Vol. 4.

History of changes