Xyloperga species identification — Life in a Southern Forest

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 Xyloperga

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

antennae with 7 segments
antennae longer than distance between eyes
hind lobes of scutellum generally reach well beyond middle of hind margin

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

Xyloperga amenaida = Xyloperga rufomaculata

X. amenaida (male) - Kirby (1882) Pl.ii, Fig.10

X. rufomaculata (female) - Kirby (1882) Pl.ii, Fig.12

Xyloperga dentata

female - Kirby (1882) Pl.ii, Fig.13

Xyloperga halidaii = Xyloperga jurinei

X. halidaii female - Kirby (1882) Pl.37, Fig.5

X. jurinei male - Westwood (1880) Pl.37, Fig.6

head - Benson (1939) Fig.23

scutellum - Benson (1939) Fig.12

Click here to compare iNaturalist observations to a summary of the published descriptions of Xyloperga halidaii.

Xyloperga perkinsi

head - Benson (1939) Fig.22

Xyloperga univittata

female - Kirby (1882) Pl.ii, Fig.7

References:

Benson, R.B. 1935. New Australian sawflies (Hymenoptera, Symphyta). Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 10: 211-229.
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
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
Konow, F.W. 1905. 1905d. Drei neue Syzygoniides aus Australien. (Hym.). Zeitschrift für systematische Hymenopterologie und Dipterologie 5: 166-169.
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. 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.