Phymatocera

Taxonomy

Family: Tenthredinidae
Family common name: common sawflies
Subfamily: Blennocampinae
Tribe: Phymatocerini
Genus: Phymatocera Dahlbom, 1835
Subgenera: none

Background

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 antennaeantenna:
the sensory organ emerging from the front of the head, usually between the compound eyes and above the clypeus; includes the flagellum, scape and pedicel
. Otherwise, they come in a variety of colors, sizes, and forms (Goulet 1992Goulet 1992:
Goulet H. 1992. The genera and subgenera of the sawflies of Canada and Alaska: Hymenoptera. Symphyta. The insects and arachnids of Canada. Part 20. Agriculture Canada Publication.).

Sawflies in the subfamily Blennocampinae have a diverse set of life histories and habits. Many species are restricted to subtropical and tropical regions, but the genus is still fairly species-rich in North America. Blennocampinae includes many sawflies that feed on ornamental and forestry crops. This subfamily can be recognized by wing venationvenation:
the network of veins on a wing
and bidentatebidentate:
having two teeth; often used in descrbing mandibles or tarsal claws
mandibles (Smith 1969dSmith 1969d:
Smith DR. 1969d. Nearctic Sawflies. I. Blennocampinae: Adults and larvae (Hymenoptera: Tenthredinidae). Technical Bulletin, U.S. Department of Agriculture 1397: 1-176.).

Phymatocera are medium-sized, about 6.5–8.5 mm in length, and almost entirely black with darkened wings (Smith 1969dSmith 1969d:
Smith DR. 1969d. Nearctic Sawflies. I. Blennocampinae: Adults and larvae (Hymenoptera: Tenthredinidae). Technical Bulletin, U.S. Department of Agriculture 1397: 1-176.).

Diversity

There are 13 described extantextant:
in existence; opposite of extinct
species worldwide. Six species occur in North America (Taeger et al. 2010Taeger et al. 2010:
Taeger A, Blank SM, and Liston AD. 2010. World Catalog of Symphyta (Hymenoptera). Zootaxa 2580: 1-1064.).

A key to North American species is included in Goulet 1981bGoulet 1981b:
Goulet H. 1981b. Distinguishing external features of adult males and females of North American species of Phymatocera Dahlbom (Hymenoptera: Tenthredinidae) and their phylogeny. Canadian Entomologist 113: 801-806..

Diagnostic characteristics

Subfamily characters

• angle of intersection of fore wingfore wing:
  the anterior wing of each pair of wings; usually the largest wing of the pair
  veins Cu1 and 1m-cu between 120°–150° (Goulet 1992Goulet 1992:
  Goulet H. 1992. The genera and subgenera of the sawflies of Canada and Alaska: Hymenoptera. Symphyta. The insects and arachnids of Canada. Part 20. Agriculture Canada Publication.)
• fore wing fore wing:
  the anterior wing of each pair of wings; usually the largest wing of the pair
  veins M and 1m-cu parallel (Smith 1969dSmith 1969d:
  Smith DR. 1969d. Nearctic Sawflies. I. Blennocampinae: Adults and larvae (Hymenoptera: Tenthredinidae). Technical Bulletin, U.S. Department of Agriculture 1397: 1-176.)
• fore wing fore wing:
  the anterior wing of each pair of wings; usually the largest wing of the pair
  veins 2A and 3A incomplete (Smith 1969dSmith 1969d:
  Smith DR. 1969d. Nearctic Sawflies. I. Blennocampinae: Adults and larvae (Hymenoptera: Tenthredinidae). Technical Bulletin, U.S. Department of Agriculture 1397: 1-176.)

Genus characters

• third antennal segment about as long as fourth (Goulet 1992Goulet 1992:
  Goulet H. 1992. The genera and subgenera of the sawflies of Canada and Alaska: Hymenoptera. Symphyta. The insects and arachnids of Canada. Part 20. Agriculture Canada Publication.)
• epicnemial area clearly outlined (Goulet 1992Goulet 1992:
  Goulet H. 1992. The genera and subgenera of the sawflies of Canada and Alaska: Hymenoptera. Symphyta. The insects and arachnids of Canada. Part 20. Agriculture Canada Publication.)
• wings darkened (Smith 1969dSmith 1969d:
  Smith DR. 1969d. Nearctic Sawflies. I. Blennocampinae: Adults and larvae (Hymenoptera: Tenthredinidae). Technical Bulletin, U.S. Department of Agriculture 1397: 1-176.)
• fore wing fore wing:
  the anterior wing of each pair of wings; usually the largest wing of the pair
  veins 2A and 3A forked at apexapex:
  the end or most distal area of any structure
  (Goulet 1992Goulet 1992:
  Goulet H. 1992. The genera and subgenera of the sawflies of Canada and Alaska: Hymenoptera. Symphyta. The insects and arachnids of Canada. Part 20. Agriculture Canada Publication.)
• pits not present on mesoscutellummesoscutellum:
  the anterior section of the scutellum
  or mesepisternummesepisternum:
  the ventral portion of the mesopleuron, located between the forecoxae and mid coxae
  (Goulet 1992Goulet 1992:
  Goulet H. 1992. The genera and subgenera of the sawflies of Canada and Alaska: Hymenoptera. Symphyta. The insects and arachnids of Canada. Part 20. Agriculture Canada Publication.)
• length of pulvilluspulvillus:
  soft pads used for surface adhesion, located in sawflies on the first 4 segments of the tarsus
  on first hind tarsomeretarsomere:
  a segment of the tarsus
  less than a third of the length of the second hind tarsomeretarsomere:
  a segment of the tarsus
  (Goulet 1992Goulet 1992:
  Goulet H. 1992. The genera and subgenera of the sawflies of Canada and Alaska: Hymenoptera. Symphyta. The insects and arachnids of Canada. Part 20. Agriculture Canada Publication.)
• pulvilli on the first and second tarsomeres well developed (Goulet 1992Goulet 1992:
  Goulet H. 1992. The genera and subgenera of the sawflies of Canada and Alaska: Hymenoptera. Symphyta. The insects and arachnids of Canada. Part 20. Agriculture Canada Publication.)
• tarsal claw tarsal claw:
  sharpened appendage emerging from the apex of the tarsus
  basalbasal:
  towards the base; closest to the body
  lobe absent (Goulet 1992Goulet 1992:
  Goulet H. 1992. The genera and subgenera of the sawflies of Canada and Alaska: Hymenoptera. Symphyta. The insects and arachnids of Canada. Part 20. Agriculture Canada Publication.)
• tarsal claw tarsal claw:
  sharpened appendage emerging from the apex of the tarsus
  with long inner tooth (Goulet 1992Goulet 1992:
  Goulet H. 1992. The genera and subgenera of the sawflies of Canada and Alaska: Hymenoptera. Symphyta. The insects and arachnids of Canada. Part 20. Agriculture Canada Publication.)
• mesoscutellar appendage mesoscutellar appendage:
  the rounded, central dorsal appendage emerging posteriorly form the mesoscutellum
  long, about one-quarter of the length of the mesoscutellummesoscutellum:
  the anterior section of the scutellum
  (Goulet 1992Goulet 1992:
  Goulet H. 1992. The genera and subgenera of the sawflies of Canada and Alaska: Hymenoptera. Symphyta. The insects and arachnids of Canada. Part 20. Agriculture Canada Publication.)
• first tergitetergite:
  a sclerotized segment of the tergum
  narrow medially; membranous area posterior to first tergitetergite:
  a sclerotized segment of the tergum
  large (Goulet 1992Goulet 1992:
  Goulet H. 1992. The genera and subgenera of the sawflies of Canada and Alaska: Hymenoptera. Symphyta. The insects and arachnids of Canada. Part 20. Agriculture Canada Publication.)

May be confused with

Phymatocera can be confused with similar species in the subfamily Blennocampinae. It can be distinguished from most other genera by the developed pulvillipulvillus:
soft pads used for surface adhesion, located in sawflies on the first 4 segments of the tarsus
on basalbasal:
towards the base; closest to the body
tarsomeres, and the furcatefurcate:
divided into branches; forked
stub of veins 2A and 3A of the fore wingfore wing:
the anterior wing of each pair of wings; usually the largest wing of the pair
. Because of intra-species variation in external characters, Phymatocera and Paracharactus can only be positively distinguished by genitalia characteristics (Smith 1969dSmith 1969d:
Smith DR. 1969d. Nearctic Sawflies. I. Blennocampinae: Adults and larvae (Hymenoptera: Tenthredinidae). Technical Bulletin, U.S. Department of Agriculture 1397: 1-176.).

Exotic pest species of concern

none

Host associations

In North America, Phymatocera feeds on Smilacina (false Solomon's seal) (Goulet 1992Goulet 1992:
Goulet H. 1992. The genera and subgenera of the sawflies of Canada and Alaska: Hymenoptera. Symphyta. The insects and arachnids of Canada. Part 20. Agriculture Canada Publication.).

Life history

The specific life histories for North American Phymatocera are not known.

The host plant of Phymatocera is toxic. There is evidence that feeding larvaelarva:
the immature stage of holometabolous insects
may be able to sequester toxic compounds into their bodies as a defense, in a manner similar to closely related Rhadinoceraea. LarvaeLarva:
the immature stage of holometabolous insects
of P. aterrima, a European species, when approached by a predator show easy bleeding habits, which are often tied to toxic or distasteful hemolymphhemolymph:
the "blood" of an insect, a fluid plasma containing nucleated cells
(Schaffner and Boevé 1996).

Distribution

World: This genus is known from North America, Europe, through Russia, and in China and Japan (Taeger et al. 2018Taeger et al. 2018:
Taeger A, Liston AD, Prous M, Groll EK, Gehroldt T, and Blank SM. 2018. ECatSymmdash;Electronic World Catalog of Symphyta (Insecta, Hymenoptera). Program version 5.0 (19 Dec 2018), data version 40 (23 Sep 2018). Senckenberg Deutsches Entomologisches Institut (SDEI), Muuml;ncheberg. https://sdei.de/ecatsym/ Accessed: 28 Jan 2020.).

North America: Phymatocera occurs throughout the United States and southern Canada, with the most northern records in British Columbia (Smith 1969dSmith 1969d:
Smith DR. 1969d. Nearctic Sawflies. I. Blennocampinae: Adults and larvae (Hymenoptera: Tenthredinidae). Technical Bulletin, U.S. Department of Agriculture 1397: 1-176.).

Map data from: GBIF.org (29 October 2019) GBIF Occurrence Download Phymatatocera

Details about data used for maps can be found here.