Sirex

For the Spanish 60's rock band, see Los Sírex. For the Italian sport car, see LMX Sirex.

Sirex
Sirex noctilio
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Siricidae
Genus: Sirex
Linnaeus, 1760
Species

see text

Sirex is a genus of wasps in the family Siricidae, the horntails or wood wasps. Their bodies are black with a dark blue or green metallic refelction with some species having reddish-brown portions.[1]

They inject eggs with fungal endosymbionts into wood. The larvae of Sirex are unable to digest the wood on their own and rely on the fungus for nutrition, either eating the fungus or wood partially digested by the fungus. Female Sirex have a mycangium which is used to carry arthrospores of the fungus.[2]

The genus includes economically important pests; S. noctilio, known simply as the 'Sirex woodwasp' is an invasive species, having spread widely across the world from its original range.[3]

  1. ^ Schiff, Nathan M.; Goulet, Henri; Smith, David R.; Boudreault, Caroline; Wilson, A. Dan; Scheffler, Brian E. (2012). "Siricidae (Hymenoptera: Symphyta: Siricoidea) of the Western Hemisphere". Canadian Journal of Arthropod Identification 21:1-305. 21: 120.
  2. ^ Hajek, Ann E.; Nielsen, Charlotte; Kepler, Ryan M.; Long, Stefan J.; Castrillo, Louela (2013). "Fidelity Among Sirex Woodwasps and Their Fungal Symbionts". Microbial Ecology. 65 (3): 753–762. doi:10.1007/s00248-013-0218-z. ISSN 0095-3628. PMC 3622004. PMID 23532503.
  3. ^ Hurley, B. P., et al. (2007). A comparison of control results for the alien invasive woodwasp, Sirex noctilio, in the southern hemisphere. Agricultural and Forest Entomology 9(3), 159–71.