Siricoidea

Siricoidea
Temporal range: Cretaceous-Present
Giant horntail
(Urocerus gigas)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
(unranked): Unicalcarida
Superfamily: Siricoidea

The superfamily Siricoidea is an archaic group of the order Hymenoptera, consisting of six families (four extinct) of xylophagous sawflies. The group is well represented in early Tertiary and Mesozoic times, but a number of living taxa remain, including the family Anaxyelidae, which has recently been linked to this group (it was previously placed in its own superfamily, Anaxyeloidea).[1] The female ovipositor is typically long and projects posteriorly, and is used to drill into wood.

  1. ^ Gao J, Engel MS, Shih C, Ren D, Gao T (2021) A new genus of anaxyelid wood wasps from the mid-Cretaceous and the phylogeny of Anaxyelidae (Hymenoptera). Journal of Hymenoptera Research 86: 151-169. https://doi.org/10.3897/jhr.86.73161