Species Tremex columba - Pigeon Horntail Wasp
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 Siricidae (Horntail Wasps)
Subfamily Tremecinae
Genus Tremex
Species columba (Pigeon Horntail Wasp)
Other Common Names Pigeon Tremex
Pigeon Tremex Sawfly
Pigeon Horntail
Pigeon Horntail Sawfly Explanation of Names Tremex columba (Linnaeus 1763)
from the Latin columba ('pigeon/dove'), by extension a term of endearment; from the Ancient Greek κόλυμβος kolumbos ('diver')
Size Adults usually >25 mm, larvae up to ~40 mm
Female is 37-55mm long (1)
Males are 18-37mm long (1)Identification Det. Bill Keim, 2016 Range widely distributed across US & so. Can. though less common in the west and se. (NS-FL to AB-CA) / n. Mex. - Map (2)(GBIF); very common Habitat diseased, decaying or cut wood Season mostly Jun-Oct (BG data) Food hosts: beech, elm, hickory, maple, oak, poplar, apple, pear, sycamore, hackberry (3)Life Cycle The female bores through the bark to a depth of about 12mm in the wood and deposits her eggs. Laid singly some are near each other. The larvae feed by excavating tunnels entirely in the wood. Pupation occurs at the end of the larval tunnel and the adults emerge through circular holes about 8mm in diameter. (1)
One generation per year. (1)
Larva; pupa
Remarks parasitized by Megarhyssa spp. (Ichneumonidae)
This horntail relies on basidiomycete white rot fungi as its enzyme-producing partner. The wasp, in turn, carries the fungus to the wood source and gets it past the first line of the tree's defense, the bark. (4)Works Cited | 1. | Eastern Forest Insects
Whiteford L. Baker. 1972. U.S. Department of Agriculture · Forest Service. | |
| 2. | Siricidae (Hymenoptera: Symphyta: Siricoidea) of the Western Hemisphere
Schiff, N.M., Goulet, H., Smith, D.R., Boudreault, C., Wilson, A.D., and Scheffler, B.E. 2012. Canadian Journal of Arthropod Identification No. 21: 305 pp. | |
| 3. | Guide to the siricid woodwasps of North America
Schiff N.M., Valley S.A., LaBonte J.R., Smith D.R. 2006. USDA Forest Service, Forest Health Technology Enterprise Team, Morgantown, WV. 101 pp. | |
| 4. | The Lives of Fungi
Britt A. Bunyard. 2022. UniPress Books Limited. | |
Contributed by Eric R. Eaton on 8 November, 2005 - 2:20pm Additional contributions by Hannah Nendick-Mason, Beatriz Moisset, anitagould, Bbarnd, Chuck Entz, Mike Quinn, v belov, marcie oconnor, Marci Hess, PaleoJonLast updated 15 September, 2023 - 10:56pm |
