Family SIRICIDAE Billberg, 1820

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Regional Maps

• Smith, D.R. 1978. Suborder Symphyta. Hymenopterorum Catalogus 14: 1-193 [43]

Introduction

This family of more than 90 species has a Northern Hemisphere distribution. There are no native species in Australia, New Zealand or South America (Smith 1978). However, two introduced species occur in Australia.

The sirex woodwasp (Sirex noctilio F.), is a native of Europe, Asia, and northern Africa, where it is generally considered to be a secondary pest. It has been introduced accidentally into many forestry regions of the world, and now occurs in south-eastern Australia and New Zealand where it is a pest of introduced conifers, especially Pinus radiata.

Adult sirex woodwasps are 10–44 mm long with a cylindrical body. Females have the head and body metallic blue and legs orange. A spike-like projection on the end of the abdomen protects the ovipositor when it is not being used for egg-laying. The female woodwasp oviposits into standing or freshly felled logs, simultaneously injecting mucus and fungal spores. The developing larvae feed on the mycelia of the wood-rotting fungi. Susceptible trees can be killed by a combination of the action of the fungus and Sirex. Males have the head and thorax metallic blue, the abdomen orange at the centre with black at the base and tail end, and the hind legs thickened and black.

A recent incursion into New South Wales is Tremex fuscicornis (F.), a species of Palaearctic origin.

Sirex noctilio F. has the following synonyms: S. nigricornis Ludwig, 1799; Urocerus feisthamelei Brulle, 1832; S. melanocerus Thomson, 1871; S. feisthamelii Kirby, 1882; S. leseleuci Tournier, 1890; Paururus noctilio Konow, 1898; P. juvenicus Enslin, 1917; and S. atlantidis Cameron, 1965.

Tremex fuscicornis (F.) has the following synonyms: S. struthiocamelus de Villers, 1789; S. camelogigas Christ, 1791; Urocerus fuscicornis Latreille, 1807; Xyloterus fuscicornis Boie 1855; Xyloecematium fuscicornis Heyden, 1868; T. juxicernis Walker, 1873; and T. simulacrum Takeuchi, 1938.

See Smith (1978) for the complete taxonomic history for each of the two introduced species and the Siricidae as a whole.

As well, a number of exotic siricid species are sometimes encountered as quarantine intercepts.

Database Notes

Whilst we have included the various synonyms for both Sirex noctilio and Tremex fuscicornis, the definitive summary of the two species can be found in Smith 1978.

General References

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

History of changes