Paul WhitingtonBatch 4

Sterictiphorinae species identification

Paul WhitingtonBatch 4
Sterictiphorinae species identification

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 species in the 2 genera that comprise the Sterictiphorinae - Trichorhachus and Styphelarge.

Trichorhachus and Styphelarge share the following diagnostic features:

  • mid and hind tibiae with preapical spurs

  • antenna with 3 segments; scape and pedicel short; third segment long, bifurcated in male and ciliated, simple in female

  • fore wing with – petiolate anal cell; apex of radial cell separated from wing margin; 3 cubital cells

These genera differ in the following ways:

Styphelarge

  • hind basitarsus shorter than next 2 tarsal segments together

  • head and thorax with large coarse punctures

  • tongue when protruded shorter than length of head

Trichorhachus

  • hind basitarsus longer than next 2 tarsal segments together

  • head and thorax shining with at most sparse shallow punctures

  • tongue when protruded longer than length of head

Images from authoritative sources of selected species follow the matrices as a further aid.


Trichorhachus australis = Trichorhachus sobrinus


Trichorhachus hyalinus


Trichorhachus nitidus


Styphelarge abdominalis

References:

  • Benson, R.B. 1938. Sawflies of the Subfamily Trichorhachinæ (Argidæ) (Hymenoptera, Symphyta), Annals and Magazine of Natural History, 2:8, 117-122.

  • 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

  • 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.

  • 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.