Siricidae

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Cladus: Protostomia
Cladus: Ecdysozoa
Cladus: Panarthropoda
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Classis: Insecta
Cladus: Dicondylia
Subclassis: Pterygota
Cladus: Metapterygota
Infraclassis: Neoptera
Cladus: Eumetabola
Cladus: Endopterygota
Superordo: Hymenopterida
Ordo: Hymenoptera
Subordo: Symphyta
Superfamilia: Siricoidea

Familia: Siricidae
Subfamiliae (2): Siricinae – Tremicinae
Genera: (10) Afrotremex – Eriotremex – Sirex – Siricosoma – Sirotremex – Teredon – Tremex – Urocerus – Xeris – Xoanon
Name

Siricidae Billberg, 1820
References

Schiff, N.M. et al. 2006: Guide to the Siricid woodwasps of North America. USDA Forest Service, Morgantown, West Virginia.
Schiff, N.M., Goulet, H., Smith, D.R., Boudreault, C., Wilson, D., Scheffler, B.E. 2012: Siricidae (Hymenoptera: Symphyta: Siricoidea) of the Western Hemisphere. Canadian journal of arthropod identification, (21) DOI: 10.3752/cjai.2012.21 Open access. Reference page.

Horntail or wood wasp is the common name for any of the 150 non-social species of the family Siricidae, of the order Hymenoptera, a type of wood-eating sawfly. The common name derives from the stout, spine-like structure at the end of the adult's abdomen, which is used to pierce the host's bark to allow the eggs to be inserted into the wood (the ovipositor is typically longer and also projects posteriorly, but it is not the source of the name). A typical adult horntail is brown, blue, or black with yellow or red parts, and may often reach up to 4 cm (1.6 in) long. The pigeon horntail (Tremex columba) can grow up to 5 cm (2.0 in) long (not counting the ovipositor), among the longest of all Hymenoptera.

This family was formerly believed to be the sole living representative of the superfamily Siricoidea, a group well represented in Paleogene and Mesozoic times, but the family Anaxyelidae has been linked to this group as well. Siricidae has two subfamilies, Siricinae and Tremecinae. Siricinae infest needle-leaved trees[1] and Tremecinae infest broad-leaved trees.[1][2] There are ten[1] living genera placed in the family, and an additional three genera described from fossils.[3][4]

Female horntails lay their eggs in trees. The larvae bore into the wood and live in the tree for up to two years, possibly more. They typically migrate to just under the bark before pupation.

Description

Members of three genera of horntail attack dying or recently killed balsam fir and spruce.[5] Populations increase rapidly only where brood material is abundant. The life cycle usually requires two years, and adults are usually in flight from late July to early September. Full-grown larvae may be up to 215 mm long. Wood-rotting fungi found in horntail tunnels cause very rapid deterioration of the wood and quickly reduce opportunities for timber salvage.

An ichneumon wasp (Rhyssa persuasoria) lays parasitoid grubs in Sirex, which kill them.[6]

The greater horntail[which?] is described as having an ovipositor "as stiff and straight as a needle, polished black, with slight notches in the pointed half. It is hinged, to permit of its being turned at right angles to the body. . . the female selects a tree that is not too healthy, and settles on the bole; then, turning down her boring instrument on its hinge, she drives it through the thick bark to the solid wood.

"When we consider the small size of the insect, it seems remarkable that she should have muscular power sufficient to force that slight auger through such resistant material; but that the boring imposes no strain upon her is shown by the fact that she may make several experimental punctures without an egg passing; apparently the wood reached is not quite suited for her purpose, so she tries another spot. Often her operations are upon a tree that has been felled for the builder's use; and by this means the new generation finds its way at times into our homes. Having satisfied herself that at last she has found the proper conditions under which a larva could exist, she passes an egg into the wood; then she repeats the process at some other spot on the same tree or log.

"The right conditions having been found and an egg discharged through the boring instrument, from this in due course issues a six-legged, whitish larva, which sets to work with capable jaws on the solid wood, beginning the excavation of a long tunnel that will occupy several years before the larva is full-grown. That stage reached, it spins a silken cocoon, and changes into a pupa which has all its limbs of maturity formed and folded beside its body.

"Before making its cocoon, however, it takes the precautionary measure of advancing its tunnel close up to the inner bark, so that in its winged state it will have only to bite a way through this softer impediment to its liberty; not that it is now incapable of dealing with anything firmer. Like the caterpillar of the Goat-moth, it does not hesitate, if necessary, to make a way even through soft metal. There is a record of a Sirex-infested tree having been cut into rafters which were used in building a roof and covered with sheet-lead an eighth of an inch thick. One of the rafters contained a Sirex in either the larval or pupal stage; and when the adult insect sought its freedom, it found the way obstructed by the lead. It went right through, apparently finding lead not much more difficult to deal with than bark."[6]
Technological inspiration

The female wood wasp lays eggs inside trees, and its methods of doing so have inspired scientists to come up with new and safer surgical probes that they expect to be more efficient.

The wood wasp ovipositor itself contains two interlocking valves. Each valve is covered with teeth that are backward-facing,[7] with the teeth of one valve catching onto the wood to provide resistance, and the other valve moving forward and taking a slight step. The second valve then catches the wood to provide continued resistance as the first valve moves forward. Thus by quick oscillation, the valves alternate in providing resistance and moving forward, the process itself leads in the ovipositor drilling almost an inch into the sapwood with minimal force being applied and without the ovipositor buckling or breaking.

Researchers and scientists inspired by this system have created a prototype neurosurgical probe that works on the same principle.[8][9] Its needle is made of silicon, with two oscillating valves that are covered with micron-sized teeth that too face backward. This enables it to penetrate deep into the brain causing little damage. According to the New Scientist magazine, "Unlike existing rigid surgical probes, the device will be flexible enough to move along the safest possible route, bypassing high-risk area of the brain during surgery, for example".[10] A probe like this would considerably reduce the number of incisions necessary to access areas that are difficult to reach.
Genera

These 22 genera belong to the family Siricidae (a dagger denotes extinct genera):[11]

Afrotremex Pasteels, 1951
Eriotremex Benson, 1943
Sirex Linnaeus, 1760
Siricosoma Forsius, 1933
Sirotremex Smith, 1988
Teredon Norton, 1869
Tremex Jurine, 1807
Urocerus Geoffroy, 1762
Xeris Costa, 1894
Xoanon Semenov-Tian-Shanskii, 1921
† Aulisca Rasnitsyn, 1968
† Cretosirex Wang, Rasnitsyn, Han & Ren, 2018
† Emanrisca Rasnitsyn, 1993
† Eoxeris Maa, 1949
† Gigasirex Rasnitsyn, 1968
† Liasirex Rasnitsyn, 1968
† Megaulisca Rasnitsyn, 1968
† Megura Rasnitsyn, 1968
† Pararchexyela Rasnitsyn, 1968
† Proximoxeris Nel, 1991
† Urocerites Heer, 1867
† Ypresiosirex Archibald & Rasnitsyn, 2015

References

Schiff, N. M.; Goulet, H.; Smith, D. R.; Boudreault, C.; Wilson, A. D.; Scheffler, B. E. (2012). "Siricidae (Hymenoptera: Symphyta: Siricoidea) of the western hemisphere". Canadian Journal of Arthropod Identification. 21. doi:10.3752/cjai.2012.21.
Kuramitsu, Kazumu; Kosaki, Atsuya; Ishihara, Teruhito; Yamada, Hideo; Watanabe, Kyohei (2016-10-28). "Infestation of the woodwasp Tremex apicalis Matsumura (Hymenoptera, Siricidae) on the large-leaf dogwood Swida macrophylla (Wall.) with biological notes on its parasitoid wasps". Journal of Hymenoptera Research. 52: 71–79. doi:10.3897/jhr.52.10060. ISSN 1314-2607.
Wedmann, S.; Pouillon, J. M.; Nel, A. (2014). "New Palaeogene horntail wasps (Hymenoptera, Siricidae) and a discussion of their fossil record". Zootaxa. 3869 (1): 33–43. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3869.1.3. PMID 25283896.
Archibald, S.B.; Rasnitsyn, A.P. (2015). "New early Eocene Siricomorpha (Hymenoptera: Symphyta: Pamphiliidae, Siricidae, Cephidae) from the Okanagan Highlands, western North America". The Canadian Entomologist. 148 (2): 209–228. doi:10.4039/tce.2015.55. S2CID 85743832.
Rose, A.H.; Lindquist, O.H. 1985. Insects of eastern spruces, fir and, hemlock, revised edition. Gov't Can., Can. For. Serv., Ottawa, For. Tech. Rep. 23. 159 p. (cited in Coates et al. 1994, cited orig ed 1977)
Bees, Wasps, Ants and Allied Insects of the British Isles, Edward Step (1932)
Richards, Guy. "Wasps play part in surgical probe". Materials Worlds Magazine. Retrieved 10 May 2012.
"Wasp-inspired robotic needle moves closer to surgery | Imperial News | Imperial College London". Imperial News. Retrieved 2021-01-19.
"Surgical tool inspired by ovipositor of parasitic wasps". The Engineer. 2020-09-30. Retrieved 2021-01-19.
Frasson, Luca; Parittotokkaporn, Tassanai; Davies, Brian L.; Rodriguez y Baena, Ferdinando (2010). "Early developments of a novel smart actuator inspired by nature". International Journal of Intelligent Systems Technologies and Applications. 8: 409–422. doi:10.1504/IJISTA.2010.030220. S2CID 8029559.
Taeger, A.; Liston, A.D.; Prous, M.; Groll, E.K.; et al. (2018). "ECatSym – Electronic World Catalog of Symphyta (Insecta, Hymenoptera)". Senckenberg Deutsches Entomologisches Institut (SDEI), Müncheberg. Retrieved 2019-06-01.