HomeWasp classificationExpeditionsLinksFigWebBiodiversity ExplorerPermits

Siricidae

Wood wasps of Africa and Madagascar

(Life: Kingdom: Metazoa (animals); Phylum: Arthropoda; Class: Hexapoda; Order: Hymenoptera; Superfamily: Siricoidea)

Classification

 

Afrotremex Pasteels, 1951

Sirex Linnaeus, 1761 (Introduced)

Distribution

Worldwide.

Biology

Wood wasps lay eggs and symbiotic fungal spores into dead or dying trees. Their larvae are wood-borers in conifers or hardwoods.

References

Goulet, H. 1993. Superfamilies Cephoidea, Megalodontoidea, Orussoidea, Siricoidea, Tenthredinoidea and Xyeloidea (pp. 101-129). In GOULET, H. & HUBER, J. (eds). Hymenoptera of the World: an identification guide to families. Research Branch, Agriculture Canada, Ottawa, Canada, 668 pp.

Hurley B.P., Slippers, B. & Wingfield, M.J. 2007. A comparison of control results for the alien invasive woodwasp, Sirex noctilio, in the southern hemisphere. Agricultural and Forest Entomology 9: 159–171.

Slippers, B., Coutinho, T.A., Wingfield, B.D. & Wingfield, M.J. 2003. The genus Amylostereum and its association with woodwasps: a contempary review . South African Journal of Science 99: 70 – 74 .

Slippers, B., Wingfield, M.J., Coutinho, T.A. & Wingfield, B.D. 2001. Population structure and possible origin of Amylostereum areolatum in South Africa. Plant Pathology 50: 206 – 210.

Taylor, J.S. 1962. Sirex noctilio F., a recent introduction in South Africa . Entomologist’s Record 74: 273 – 274 .

Tribe, G.D . 1995. The woodwasp Sirex noctilio Fabricius (Hymenoptera: Siricidae), a pest of Pinus species, now established in South Africa. African Entomology 3: 215 – 217.
Tribe , G.D. & Cillié , J.J . 2004. The spread of Sirex noctilio Fabricius (Hymenoptera: Siricidae) in South African pine plantations and the introduction and establishment of its biological control agents. African Entomology 12: 9 – 17.

Credits

Photographs © Simon van Noort (Iziko Museums of Cape Town)


Web author Simon van Noort (Iziko South African Museum)

Copyright 2004-2009 Iziko Museums of Cape Town