Pergidae

Spitfire Perga affinis larvae, copyright Gordon Smith.

Belongs within: Tenthredinoidea.

The Pergidae are a group of sawflies most diverse in Australia and South America with fewer species in North America and Asia. They are divided between numerous subfamilies with the largest species belonging to the Australasian Perginae. Larvae of this subfamily are often notable defoliators of Eucalyptus (Naumann 1991).

Characters (from Naumann 1991): Adult 2.8-30 mm; antennae 5-24-segmented; head sometimes with complete hypostomal bridge; neck short; fore wing without crossvein 2r, fore tibia with one or two apical spurs. Larva with 3-5-segmented legs with claws; abdominal prolegs on segments 2-6, 2-8 or 3-8 and 10, sometimes only on 10 or completely absent; stemmata present; antennae variable from disc-like to multisegmented.

<==Pergidae
    |  i. s.: Platypsectra analis ZS10
    |         Pergagrapta G84
    |           |--P. gravenhorstii G84
    |           `--P. polita PK17
    |         Acanthoperga R70
    |         Decameria similis HR11
    |         Heteroperreyia hubrichi HR11
    |--Philomastix [Philomastiginae] Na91
    |--Syzygoniinae Na91
    |--Acordulecera BD17 [Acordulecerinae Na91]
    |    `--A. pellucida BD17
    |--Loboceratinae Na91
    |--Paralypiinae Na91
    |--Conocoxinae Na91
    |--Cladomacra [Perreyiinae] Na91
    |--Styracotechys [Styracotechyinae] Na91
    |--Pergula [Pergulinae] Na91
    |--Pteryperga [Pteryperginae] Na91
    |    `--P. galla R70
    |--Pterygophorinae Na91
    |    |--Pterygophorus cinctus Boisduval 1835 Na91, B35
    |    `--Lophyrotoma interrupta Na91
    |--Phylacteophaginae Na91
    |    |--Leptoperga Riek 1970 RC74
    |    `--Phylacteophaga Na91
    |         |--P. eucalypti B88
    |         `--P. froggatti Na91
    |--Euryinae Na91
    |    |--Clarissa Na91
    |    |--Eurys Na91
    |    |--Polyclonus atratus RC74
    |    |--Warra Na91
    |    `--Ancyloneura Na91
    `--Perginae Na91
         |--Pseudoperga Na91
         |    |--P. belinda G84
         |    `--P. lewisii No91
         `--Perga Na91
              |--P. affinis Na91
              |--P. dorsalis R35
              |--P. leaski G84
              `--P. lewisi N70

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[B88] Bouček, Z. 1988. Australasian Chalcidoidea (Hymenoptera): A biosystematic revision of genera of fourteen families, with a reclassification of species. CAB International: Wallingford (UK).

[BD17] Branstetter, M. G., B. N. Danforth, J. P. Pitts, B. C. Faircloth, P. S. Ward, M. L. Buffington, M. W. Gates, R. R. Kula & S. G. Brady. 2017. Phylogenomic insights into the evolution of stinging wasps and the origins of ants and bees. Current Biology 27: 1019–1025.

[B35] Boisduval, J. B. 1835. Voyage de Découvertes de l’Astrolabe. Exécuté par ordre du Roi, pendant les années 1826–1827–1828–1829, sous le commandement de M. J. Dumont d'Urville. Faune entomologique de l'océan Pacifique, avec l'illustration des insectes nouveaux recueillis pendant le voyage vol. 2. Coléoptères et autres ordres. J. Tastu: Paris.

[G84] Gauld, I. D. 1984. An Introduction to the Ichneumonidae of Australia. British Museum (Natural History).

[HR11] Heraty, J., F. Ronquist, J. M. Carpenter, D. Hawks, S. Schulmeister, A. P. Dowling, D. Murray, J. Munro, W. C. Wheeler, N. Schiff & M. Sharkey. 2011. Evolution of the hymenopteran megaradiation. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 60: 73–88.

[Na91] Naumann, I. D. 1991. Hymenoptera (wasps, bees, ants, sawflies). In: CSIRO. The Insects of Australia: A textbook for students and research workers 2^nd ed. vol. 2 pp. 916–1000. Melbourne University Press: Carlton (Victoria).

[N70] Norris, K. R. 1970. General biology. In: CSIRO. The Insects of Australia: A textbook for students and research workers pp. 107–140. Melbourne University Press.

[No91] Norris, K. R. 1991. General biology. In: CSIRO. The Insects of Australia: A textbook for students and research workers 2^nd ed. vol. 1 pp. 68–108. Melbourne University Press: Carlton (Victoria).

[PK17] Peters, R. S., L. Krogmann, C. Mayer, A. Donath, S. Gunkel, K. Meusemann, A. Kozlov, L. Podsiadlowski, M. Petersen, R. Lanfear, P. A. Diez, J. Heraty, K. M. Kjer, S. Klopfstein, R. Meier, C. Polidori, T. Schmitt, S. Liu, X. Zhou, T. Wappler, J. Rust, B. Misof & O. Niehuis. 2017. Evolutionary history of the Hymenoptera. Current Biology 27 (7): 1013–1018.

[R35] Rayment, T. 1935. A Cluster of Bees: Sixty essays on the life-histories of Australian bees, with specific descriptions of over 100 new species. Endeavour Press: Sydney.

[R70] Riek, E. F. 1970. Hymenoptera (wasps, bees, ants). In: CSIRO. The Insects of Australia: A textbook for students and research workers pp. 867–959. Melbourne University Press.

[RC74] Riek, E. F., & J. C. Cardale. 1974. Hymenoptera (wasps, bees, ants). In: CSIRO. The Insects of Australia: A textbook for students and research workers. Supplement 1974 pp. 107–111. Melbourne University Press.

[ZS10] Zborowski, P., & R. Storey. 2010. A Field Guide to Insects in Australia 3^rd ed. Reed New Holland: Sydney.

Last updated: 25 April 2022.