Perga species identification

Perga species identification

Image above courtesy of Reiner Richter (iNaturalist observation) CC BY 4.0


Workbook

Note: This is a “work in progress”. Changes may be made as I discover additional relevant information.


Identification of species in genus Perga

The matrix below is designed to aid identification of species in the genus Perga, which has the following diagnostic features:

  • Antennae 5 or 6-segmented with club

  • Antennae shorter than distance between eyes

  • Hind lobes of scutellum very short, not reaching hind margin

Click on the matrix to download a pdf version. Images from authoritative sources of selected species follow as a further aid.


Perga affinis


Perga dorsalis


Perga brullei=Perga ritsemi=Perga cressonii


Perga christii


Perga dahlbomii


Perga kirbii


Perga klugii


Perga leaskii


Perga mayrii= Perga bisecta


Perga schiödtei


Perga vollenhovii = Perga walkerii


References:

  • Benson, R.B. 1939. A revision of the Australian sawflies of the genus Perga Leach, sens. lat. (Hymenoptera, Symphyta). The Australian Zoologist 9: 324-357.

  • Carne, P.B. 1962. The characteristics and behaviour of the saw-fly Perga affinis affinis (Hymenoptera). Australian Journal of Zoology 10: 1-34

  • Forsius, R. 1927. On some sawflies from the Australian Region (Hymenoptera Tenthredinidae). Records of the South Australian Museum 3: 283-308.

  • Froggatt, W.W. 1907 Australian Insects. Brooks et co. Sydney

  • Kirby, W.F. 1882. List of Hymenoptera, with descriptions and figures of the typical specimens in the British Museum. Vol. I. Tenthredinidae and Siricidae. London: British Museum, xxviii

  • Leach, W.E. 1817. The zoological miscellany; being descriptions of new, or interesting animals. Vol. 3. Shoe-Lane, London: R. and A. Taylor

  • Morice, F.D. 1919. Notes on Australian sawflies, especially the “Authors' Types” and other specimens in the British Museum of Natural History and the Hope Collections of the Oxford University Museum; with diagnostic synopses of the genera and species, and photographs illustrating their structural characters. Transactions of the Entomological Society of London 66: 247-333, pls XI-XV.

  • Riek, E.F. 1961. The distribution and inter-relationships of Perga affinis Kirby and Perga dorsalis Leach (Hymenoptera, Symphyta). Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 86: 237-240

  • Weinstein, P. 1991 Undermining spitfire defence strategies. Austalian Natural History 23 (11): 849-857

  • Westwood, J.O. 1880. A monograph of the sawflies composing the Australian genus Perga of Leach. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1880: 359-379


This is a workbook page … a part of our website where we record the observations and references used in making species identifications. The notes will not necessarily be complete. They are a record for our own use, but we are happy to share this information with others.