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HYMENOPTERA 635
long neck; costal cell of the fore wings divided; and abdomen cylindrical. The
genus Xiphydria Latr. is represented in Europe by three species the 1arvre of
which bore into such deciduous trees as alders, birches, elms, oaks, and poplars;
in North America by at least six species some of which have been reared from
birches and maple; in Australia by a single species, and in New Zealand also by
a single species. Konowia Brauns has two North American species.
Family SIRICIDJE Kirby 1837 (Si-ric'i-dre; see explanation under superfamily).
German, Holzwespen. French, Sireces. Woodwasps, Horntails.
Large somber or brilliant and metallic wasp-like insects with long closely
fused cylindrical bodies terminated by a stout spine and a long stiff ovipositor
in the females, which characters are responsible for the common name "horn,
tails." Head large and wide but with a very slender neck. Antennre filiformmany-segmented,
nearly half as long as the body. Wings long and narrow with
many veins and cells and often partially stained or clouded. Abdomen long,
cylindrical, and with anal spine and a short or long, blunt ovipositor consisting
of two pieces enclosed in a sheath. The eggs are inserted under or in the crevices
of the bark or into the wood of forest trees and shrubs. Once the ovipositor is
inserted, it is not quickly removed and such females are easily captured. The
pale, cylindrical, S-shaped larvre are deeply segmented and may also have many
annuleLs and furrows; head large; thoracic legs present and much reduced;
terminal horny abdominal process present. They make large burrows in the
sapwood and heartwood of conifers and broad-leaved deciduous trees that are
injured or have been recently killed. Pupation occurs in thin parchment-like
cocoons within the burrows of the larv