Xeris is a genus of horntails found in North America and Eurasia. Achille Costa circumscribed the genus in 1894.

Xeris
Type species: X spectrum
X. morrisoni.
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Siricidae
Genus: Xeris
A. Costa, 1894
Type species
Ichneumon spectrum
Linnaeus, 1758
Diversity
16 species
Synonyms
  • Neoxeris Saini & Dingh, 1987[1]

Synonyms edit

In 1987, Malkiat S. Saini and Devinder Singh circumscribed a new genus, Neoxeris upon their description of a new species, which they called Neoxeris melanocephala.[1] In 2012, N. melanocephala was transferred to Xeris, making Neoxeris a junior synonym.[2] X. melanocephalus was later synonymized with X. himalayensis.[3]

Description edit

Characteristic features of Xeris compared to other genera of Siricidae genera include: a hind wing with which lacks a cell cup, a small vertical ridge behind the eye, and a metatibial spur.[3]: 36 

Distribution edit

Xeris species are found in North America and Eurasia. In North America, they're found from the boreal forests in Alaska and Canada south through Chiapas in southern Mexico. They are found in temperate and boreal regions of Eurasia as well as mountains of southern Eurasia including Morocco, India, China, and Taiwan.[3]: 42 

Species edit

As of 2015, Xeris consists of sixteen species:[3]

X. caudatus edit

 
X. caudatus.

Xeris caudatus (Cresson, 1865) was initially placed in the genus Urocerus by Ezra Townsend Cresson in his species description. Its type locality is the Colorado Territory.[4]

X. chiricahua edit

Xeris chiricahua Smith, 2012 was described by David R. Smith. Its type locality is Rustler Park, Chiricahua Mountains, Arizona.[2]: 251–252 

X. cobosi edit

Xeris cobosi Viedma & Suárez, 1961 was first described by M. G. de Viedma and F. J. Suárez as a subspecies of X. spectrum. It was moved to the species level in 2015. Its type locality is Tizi-Ifri, Morocco.[3]: 48–50 

X. degrooti edit

Xeris degrooti Goulet, 2015 was described in 2015 by Henri Goulet. It is named in honor of Peter de Groot. Its type locality is Pennington County, South Dakota.[3]: 51–53 

X. himalayensis edit

Xeris himalayensis Bradley, 1934 was described by James Chester Bradley in 1934. Its type locality is Deoban, Chakrata, India.[5] In 2015, it became considered the senior synonym of X. melanocephalus (Saini and Singh, 1987), whose type locality is Dalhousie, India.[3]: 53–57 

X. indecisus edit

Xeris indecisus (MacGillivray, 1893) was initially described by MacGillivray as a species in Urocerus. Its type locality is near Olympia, Washington.[6] T. C. Maa classified it as a subspecies of X. morrisoni in 1949, but in 2012 it was reinstated to the species level.[2]: 253–258 

X. malaisei edit

Xeris malaisei Maa, 1949 was initially described as a subspecies of X. spectrum, but was promoted to the species level in 2015.[3]: 63–67 

X. melancholicus edit

 
X. melancholicus.

Xeris melancholicus (Westwood, 1874) was described by John O. Westwood, who placed it in the genus Sirex. He listed the type locality as "America Septentrionalis".[7]

X. morrisoni edit

Xeris morrisoni (Cresson, 1880) was described by Ezra Townsend Cresson in 1880; he initially placed it in the genus Urocerus.[8]: 35 

X. pallicoxae edit

Xeris pallicoxae Goulet, 2015 was described by Henri Goulet in 2015. The specific name means "pale coxae".[3]: 74–80 

X. spectrum edit

Xeris spectrum (Linnaeus, 1758) was described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758.[9] Costa designated it to be the type species of Xeris.

X. tarsalis edit

Xeris tarsalis (Cresson, 1880) was described by Ezra Townsend Cresson in 1880. Its type locality is Washington Territory, and Cresson initially placed it in the genus Urocerus.[8]: 52 

X. tropicalis edit

Xeris tropicalis Goulet, 2012 was described by Henri Goulet in 2012. Its type locality is San Cristobal de las Casas, in southern Mexico; the specific name tropicalis "tropical" reflects its habitat.[2]: 267–286 

X. umbra edit

Xeris umbra Goulet, 2015 was described by Henri Goulet in 2015; its type locality is Yunnan Province, China and its name umbra "shadow" refers to the species' dark color.[3]: 95–98 

X. xanthoceros edit

Xeris xanthoceros Goulet, 2015 was described by Henri Goulet in 2015. Its specific name means "yellow horn", referring to the female's flagellum. The type locality is Yunnan, China.[3]: 95–98 

X. xylocola edit

Xeris xylocola Goulet, 2015 was described by Henri Goulet in 2015. The specific name means "living in wood". Its type locality is Houaphanh Province, Laos.[3]: 98–100 

References edit

  1. ^ a b Saini, Malkiat S.; Singh, Devinder (1987). "A new genus and a new species of Siricinae (Insecta, Hymenoptera, Siricidae) from India with a revised key to its world genera". Zoologica Scripta. 16 (2): 177–180. doi:10.1111/j.1463-6409.1987.tb00064.x. S2CID 84234451.
  2. ^ a b c d Schiff, Nathan M.; Goulet, Henri; Smith, David R.; Boudreault, Caroline; Wilson, A. Dan; Scheffler, Brian E. (2012). "Siricidae (Hymenoptera: Symphyta: Siricoidea) of the Western Hemisphere". Canadian Journal of Arthropod Identification. 21: 1–305. doi:10.3752/cjai.2012.21.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Coulet, Henri; Boudreauult, Caroline; Schiff, Nathan M. (2015). "Revision of the World species of Xeris Costa (Hymenoptera: Siricidae)". Canadian Journal of Arthropod Identification. 28: 1–127. doi:10.3752/cjai.2015.28.
  4. ^ Cresson, E. T. (1865). "Catalogue of Hymenoptera in the Collection of the Entomological Society of Philadelphia, from Colorado Territory". Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Philadelphia. 4: 247–248.
  5. ^ Bradley, J. Chester (1934). "A New Species of Xeris (Hymenoptera-Siricidae) from the Himalayas" (PDF). Records of the Indian Museum. 36 (2): 145. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 July 2017.
  6. ^ MacGillivray, Alex. D. (1893). "Washington Tenthredinidæ and Uroceridæ". The Canadian Entomologist. 25 (10): 243. doi:10.4039/Ent25237-10. hdl:2027/hvd.32044107197519. S2CID 80788005.
  7. ^ Westwood, J. O. (1874). "Order—Hymenoptera". Thesaurus Entomologicus Oxoniensis. Oxford: Clarendon. p. 116; Pl. 21, Fig. 8.
  8. ^ a b Cresson, E. T. (1880). "Descriptions of New North American Hymenoptera in the Collection of the American Entomological Society". Transactions of the American Entomological Society and Proceedings of the Entomological Section of the Academy of Natural Sciences. 8 (1–2): 1–52. JSTOR 25076383.
  9. ^ Linnæus, Carolus (1758). "Insecta Hymenoptera. Ichneumon". Systema Naturæ. Vol. 1 (10th ed.). Holmia: Laurentius Salvius. p. 560.