Sterictiphorinae species identification — Life in a Southern Forest

Image above courtesy of Kerry Stuart (iNaturalist observation) CC BY-NC

Workbook

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

Identification of species in subfamily Sterictiphorinae

The matrices below are designed to aid identification of all Australian species in the 3 genera that comprise the Sterictiphorinae - Trichorhachus, Styphelarge and Schizocerella. The last genus is represented by one species, Schizocerella pilicornis, which was introduced to Australia from North/South America.

Trichorhachus, Styphelarge and Schizocerella share the following diagnostic features:

antenna with 3 segments; scape and pedicel short; third segment long, bifurcated and ciliated in male, simple and bare in female
fore wing with petiolate anal cell
costa of fore wing strongly swollen so that at least basally it is broader than intercostal area

Trichorhachus and Styphelarge have a preapical spur on the hind tibia, which is absent in Schizocerella.

To view iNaturalist Research Grade observations of a particular species in the subfamily Sterictiphorinae, click on the name of that species in the list below. (Species without a link have no RG observations at this time).

Trichorhachus australis Trichorhachus hyalinus Trichorhachus nitidus Styphelarge abdominalis Schizocerella pilicornis

Trichorhachus australis = Trichorhachus sobrinus

T. australis male - Westwood (1842) Pl.7, Fig.2

T. sobrinus male - Kirby (1882) Pl.iii, Fig.3

T. australis female, apex of abdomen - Benson (1938) Fig.10

T. australis, sawsheath from above - Benson (1938) Fig.8

Trichorhachus hyalinus

T. hyalinus male - Kirby (1882) Pl.iii, Fig.4

Trichorhachus nitidus

T. nitidus female - Kirby (1882) Pl.iii, Fig. 2

T. nitidus male with hind leg - Kirby (1882) Pl.iii, Fig.1

T. nitidus male head - Kirby (1882) Pl.iii, Fig.1a

T. nitidus male antenna - Morice (1919) Pl.13, Fig.3

T. nitidus female, apex of abdomen - Benson (1938) Fig.9

T. nitidus female, sawsheath from above - Benson (1938) Fig. 7

Trichorhachus sp. female - from Lucid keys

Styphelarge abdominalis

S. abdominalis male - Kirby (1882) Pl.iii, Fig.5

Schizocerella pilicornis

S. pilicornis male - lucid keys

S. pilicornis frontal view face - Benson (1963) Fig.2

References:

Benson, R.B. 1938. Sawflies of the Subfamily Trichorhachinæ (Argidæ) (Hymenoptera, Symphyta). Annals and Magazine of Natural History 2:8, 117-122.
Benson, R.B. 1963. The affinities of the Australian Argidae (Hymenoptera). Annals and Magazine of Natural History 5:58, 631-635
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
Malagón-Aldana, L.A., Jensen, A., Smith, D.R., Shinohara, A. & Vilhelmsen, L. Sawflies out of Gondwana: phylogenetics and biogeography of Argidae (Hymenoptera). Systematic Entomology 47: 231-258.
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.
Smith, D.R. 1971. Nearctic sawflies of the genera Neoptilia Ashmead, Schizocerella Forsius, Aprosthema Konow, and Sphacophilus Provancher (Hymenoptera: Argidae). Transactions of the American Entomological Society 97: 537-594
Westwood, J.O. 1841. Descriptions of some exotic species of sawflies. Arcana Entomologica p.23

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.