Xiphydria


Xiphydria is a genus of wood wasps belonging to the family Xiphydriidae.
This genus is Holarctic, being found in Europe, Asia and North America.

Description

In Xiphydria, the head has mandibles each with four teeth, 5-segmented maxillary palps, a clypeus with a medial tooth-like projection and antennae with about 20 segments. The pronotum is strongly constricted in dorsal view and the propleuron is long in lateral view. The hind wing has only two closed cells.
Larvae are white and grub-like. They resemble larvae of Siricidae, another wood-boring group of sawflies.

Biology

Female Xiphydria oviposit into diseased or dead wood, often branches that have fallen or are about to fall. During oviposition, they also infect the wood with a symbiotic fungus that starts decomposing the wood. Eggs hatch into larvae that bore galleries into wood parallel to the grain. As larvae feed, they pack frass behind their bodies. At maturity, larvae become prepupae which switch direction so the gallery runs towards the outside of the branch. The next step is pupation. Once that is complete, adult wasps emerge, leaving behind emergence holes ~3 mm wide in the wood. This genus is univoltine, meaning there is one generation per year.
They attack a range of different broadleaf trees: Acer, Betula, Ulmus, Carya, Populus, Salix, Alnus, Platanus, Rhus, Fagus, Fraxinus, Tilia, Ostrya, Crataegus, Carpinus, Prunus, and Quercus.

Importance to humans

Xiphydriidae may occur in firewood or raw woodworking materials. While usually of little economic importance, X. longicallis can cause economic damage to oak wood.

Species

The following species are recognised in the genus Xiphydria:Xiphydria albopicta Shinohara & Kameda, 2019Xiphydria annulitibia Takeuchi, 1936Xiphydria betulae Xiphydria camelus Xiphydria canadensis Xiphydria duniana Gourlay, 1927Xiphydria irrorata F.Pesarini, 1995Xiphydria kanba Shinohara, Hara & Smith, 2020Xiphydria kastsheevi Ermolenko, 1979Xiphydria konishii Shinohara, Hara & Smith, 2020Xiphydria laeviceps Smith, 1860Xiphydria longicollis Xiphydria megapolitana Xiphydria melanoptera Shinohara, Hara & Smith, 2020Xiphydria mellipes Harris 1841Xiphydria nagasei Shinohara, 2019Xiphydria ogasawarai Matsumura, 1927Xiphydria palaeanarctica Shinohara, 2019Xiphydria picta Konow, 1897Xiphydria prolongata Xiphydria scutellata Konow, 1897
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