| Orussidae Temporal range:
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|---|---|
_-_a_parasitic_wood_wasp_!_(10136426163)_(cropped).jpg)
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| Orussus abietinus | |
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| Orussus coronatus Fabricius, 1798,[1] junior synonym of O. abietinus (Scopoli, 1763) and type species of Orussus Latreille, 1797. | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Superfamily: | Orussoidea |
| Family: | Orussidae Newman, 1834 |
The Orussidae or the parasitic wood wasps represent a small family of sawflies ("Symphyta"). Currently, about 93 extant and four fossil species are known.[2] They take a key position in phylogenetic analyses of Hymenoptera, because they form the sister taxon of the megadiverse apocritan wasps, and the common ancestor of Orussidae + Apocrita evolved parasitism for the first time in course of the evolution of the Hymenoptera. They are also the only sawflies with carnivorous larvae.
- ^ Curtis, J. 1833: British Entomology; being illustrations and descriptions of the genera of Insects found in Great Britain and Ireland: containing Coloured Figures from Nature of the most rare and beautiful species, and in many instances of the plants upon which they are found. London, published by the Author 10(part 109-120): tabs 434-481, 2 pages of text associated with each tab.
- ^ Blank, S.M., Groll, E.K., Liston, A.D., Prous, M. & Taeger, A. 2012: ECatSym - Electronic World Catalog of Symphyta (Insecta, Hymenoptera). Program version 4.0 beta, data version 39 (18. Dezember 2012). Digital Entomological Information, Müncheberg