Sirex

{{Short description|Genus of sawflies}} {{About||the Spanish 1960's rock band|Los Sírex|the Italian sport car|LMX Sirex}} {{Italic title}} {{Automatic taxobox | name = ''Sirex'' | image = Sirex noctilio F (Dos).JPG | image_caption = ''Sirex noctilio'' | taxon = Sirex | authority = Linnaeus, 1760 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = see text }}

'''''Sirex''''' is a genus of sawfly in the family Siricidae, the horntails or wood wasps.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ward |first=D |url=https://www.biotaxa.org/fnz/article/view/fnz.81 |title=Fauna of New Zealand 81: Guide to the sawflies and woodwasps (Hymenoptera, Symphyta) of New Zealand |last2=Goulet |first2=H |date=2021 |publisher=Landcare Research NZ Ltd |pages=40 |doi=10.7931/j2/fnz.81}}</ref> Their bodies are black with a dark blue or green metallic reflection with some species having reddish-brown portions.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Schiff |first1=Nathan M. |last2=Goulet |first2=Henri |last3=Smith |first3=David R. |last4=Boudreault |first4=Caroline |last5=Wilson |first5=A. Dan |last6=Scheffler |first6=Brian E. |date=2012 |title=Siricidae (Hymenoptera: Symphyta: Siricoidea) of the Western Hemisphere |url=https://research.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/41029 |journal=Canadian Journal of Arthropod Identification |language=en |volume=21 |pages=120}}</ref>

They inject eggs with fungal endosymbionts into wood. The larvae of ''Sirex'' are unable to digest the wood on their own and rely on the fungus for nutrition, either eating the fungus or wood partially digested by the fungus. Female ''Sirex'' have a mycangium which is used to carry arthrospores of the fungus.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hajek |first1=Ann E. |last2=Nielsen |first2=Charlotte |last3=Kepler |first3=Ryan M. |last4=Long |first4=Stefan J. |last5=Castrillo |first5=Louela |date=2013 |title=Fidelity Among Sirex Woodwasps and Their Fungal Symbionts |journal=Microbial Ecology |volume=65 |issue=3 |pages=753–762 |doi=10.1007/s00248-013-0218-z |issn=0095-3628 |pmc=3622004 |pmid=23532503}}</ref>

The genus includes economically important pests; ''S. noctilio'', known simply as the 'Sirex woodwasp' is an invasive species, having spread widely across the world from its original range.<ref name=Hurley>Hurley, B. P., et al. (2007). [http://repository.up.ac.za/bitstream/handle/2263/3444/Hurley_Comparison(2007).pdf?sequence=1 A comparison of control results for the alien invasive woodwasp, ''Sirex noctilio'', in the southern hemisphere.] ''Agricultural and Forest Entomology'' 9(3), 159–71.</ref>

==Species== {{div col}} * ''Sirex abietinus'' Goulet, 2012 * ''Sirex areolatus'' (Cresson, 1868) * ''Sirex atricornis'' Kjellander, 1945 * ''Sirex behrensii'' (Cresson, 1880) * ''Sirex californicus'' (Ashmead, 1904) * ''Sirex carinthiacus'' Konow, 1892 * ''Sirex cinctus'' Drury, 1773 * ''Sirex cyaneus'' Fabricius, 1781 * ''Sirex ermak'' (Semenov, 1921) * ''Sirex hispaniola'' Goulet, 2012 * ''Sirex imperialis'' W.F.Kirby, 1882 * ''Sirex juvencus'' (Linnaeus, 1758) * ''Sirex longicauda'' Middlekauff, 1948 * ''Sirex melanopoda'' Benson, 1965 * ''Sirex mexicanus'' Smith, 2012 * ''Sirex mongolorum'' (Semenov) * ''Sirex nigricornis'' Fabricius, 1781 * ''Sirex nitidus'' (Harris, 1841) * ''Sirex nitobei'' Matsumura * ''Sirex noctilio'' Fabricius, 1793 * ''Sirex obesus'' Bradley, 1913 * ''Sirex piceus'' G.Xiao & Wu, 1983 * ''Sirex pygmaeus'' Linnaeus, 1767 * ''Sirex sinicus'' Maa * ''Sirex tianshanicus'' (Semenov) * ''Sirex torvus'' Harris, 1779 * ''Sirex varipes'' Walker, 1866 * ''Sirex vates'' Mocsáry * ''Sirex xerophilus'' Schiff, 2012 {{div col end}}

==References==

Category:Siricidae