Syntexis libocedrii

Cedar wood wasp
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Suborder: Symphyta
Superfamily: Siricoidea
Family: Anaxyelidae
Genus: Syntexis
Species: S. libocedrii
Binomial name
Syntexis libocedrii
Rohwer, 1915

The Anaxyelidae are a wood wasp family within the Symphyta, containing only a single living species, Syntexis libocedrii, (also called the cedar wood wasp or incense-cedar wood wasp), though the family has an extensive Mesozoic fossil record; this species is thus a "living fossil". It has the remarkable behavior of ovipositing only in recently burnt incense-cedar (Calocedrus), red cedar (Thuja) or juniper (Juniperus); the wood is often still smoldering when the wasp is laying its eggs, and the larvae develop in the wood.[1] It occurs from the mountains of central California to southern British Columbia, but is very rarely seen, except by firefighters.

References

  1. Schiff, N.M. (December 2000). "Insects associated with forest fires in Northern California and Oregon". Entomological Society of America meeting. Montreal.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, September 20, 2014. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.