Family: Tenthredinidae
Family common name: common sawflies
Subfamily: Allantinae
Tribe: Empriini
Genus: Allantunicus D.R. Smith, 1997
Subgenera: none
The Tenthredinidae are the most species-rich family and are found throughout the world, in all continents but Antarctica. They are known as the “common sawflies.” They can generally be recognized by a cylindrical body and long, segmented antennae. Otherwise, they come in a variety of colors, sizes, and forms (Goulet 1992).
Sawflies in the Allantinae subfamily are mostly black and shining, sometimes with other colors. They have agricultural importance as some species are pests on cultivated and ornamental plants (Smith 1979a). They can be distinguished from other subfamilies by wing venation (Smith 2003a).
Allantunicus are medium-sized, about 8–9 mm in length. There is a single North American species, A. autumnalis, which is recognized by its orange body, black head, and darkened wings (Smith and Schiefer 1997).
There is one described extant species worldwide, and it is Nearctic (Taeger et al. 2010).
Subfamily characters
Genus characters
Allantunicus can be confused with similar species in the subfamily Allantinae or tribe Allantini. It can be distinguished from most other genera by the short genal ridge, shallow clypeal emargination, lack of cell M in the hind wing, lack of punctures on the mesepisternum, and the tarsal claw (Smith and Schiefer 1997).
none
In North America, Allantunicus feeds on Polygonella gracilis (tall jointweed) (Smith and Schiefer 1997).
unknown
World: This genus is known from North America (Taeger et al. 2010).
North America: Allantunicus occurs in coastal Alabama (Smith and Schiefer 1997).
Map data from: GBIF.org (29 October 2019) GBIF Occurrence Download Allantunicus and the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (USNM)
Details about data used for maps can be found here.
Sawfly Gen
