Stem sawflies

Stem sawflies
Hartigia linearis (Cephidae)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Suborder: Symphyta
Superfamily: Cephoidea
Newman, 1834
Family: Cephidae
Newman, 1834

The Cephoidea are a small superfamily within the Symphyta, commonly referred to as stem sawflies, containing some 100 species in 10 genera in a single family, Cephidae. Most species occur in the Northern Hemisphere, especially in Eurasia. The larvae are stem borers in various plants, especially grasses, but sometimes other herbaceous plants, shrubs, or trees. A few are pests of cereal grains (e.g. Cephus cinctus, which attacks wheat). They are exceptionally slender for symphytans, often resembling other types of wasps, and they are the only Symphyta which lack cenchri. They are sometimes postulated to be the sister taxon to the Apocrita, though the Orussidae are more commonly considered such.


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