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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies (Hymenoptera) » "Symphyta" - Sawflies, Horntails, and Wood Wasps » Stem Sawflies (Cephidae)

Family Cephidae - Stem Sawflies

Classification · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Identification · Range · Habitat · Food · Remarks · Works Cited

Rose Shoot Sawfly - Phylloecus trimaculatus - female

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies)

No Taxon ("Symphyta" - Sawflies, Horntails, and Wood Wasps)

Family Cephidae (Stem Sawflies)

Explanation of Names

Cephidae Newman 1834

Numbers

16 spp. in 6 genera in our area(1),

Identification

Mesonotum not divided by a transverse groove between bases of fore wings. Protibia with 1 apical spur. Last tergum and last sternum of both sexes apically thin and without cylindrical projection. Pronotum in lateral view sloping forward at about 45°; pronotum in dorsal view with posterior margin weakly concave, with medial length over one-half lateral length. Fore wing with posterior-most vein (2A) straight, parallel to, and mostly close to posterior margin of wing. Pedicel much shorter than flagellomere 1. Metanotum without cenchrus.

Slender, laterally compressed. Elongated pronotum. Mostly black, some with light colored markings. Clubbed antennae.

keys to NA genera and CA spp. in (2)

Overview of Species

Tribe Cephini

-iNaturalist Specimen-

Calameuta clavata Calameuta middlekauffi Cephus cinctus Cephus pygmaeus Trachelus tabidus

Tribe Hartigiini

-BOLD Specimens-

-GenUS Specimens-

Caenocephus aldrichi Phylloecus bicinctus Phylloecus cowichanus Phylloecus fasciatus Phylloecus riesi

-BOLD Specimens- -BOLD Specimens-

-UGA Specimen-

Phylloecus trimaculatus Janus abbreviatus Janus bimaculatus Janus integer Janus quercusae

-BOLD Specimens-

Janus rufiventris

Range

Transcontinental(3)

Habitat

larvae bore in stems(3)

Food

hosts: grasses (incl. grain crops), shrubs (incl. berries, roses, willows)(3)

Remarks

Some are serious pests, e.g. wheat stem sawflies

Works Cited

1.	A New Western Nearctic species of Calameuta Konow (Hymenoptera : Cephidae) David R. Smith and Nathan M. Schiff. 2005. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 107: 864-868.

2.	The Cephid Stem Borers of California (Hymenoptera: Cephidae) Woodrow W. Middlekauff. 1969. Bulletin of the California Insect Survey, Volume 11, University of California Press.

3.	Catalog of Hymenoptera in America North of Mexico Karl V. Krombein, Paul D. Hurd, Jr., David R. Smith, and B. D. Burks. 1979. Smithsonian Institution Press.

Contributed by Will Chatfield-Taylor on 6 June, 2007 - 7:44pm
Additional contributions by Beatriz Moisset, kschnei, v belov, Harsi S. Parker, KenW, PaleoJon, Arturo Santos, Nathaniel Green
Last updated 2 September, 2024 - 8:18am

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