Checklist of British and Irish Hymenoptera - Sawflies, ‘Symphyta’

The superfamilies Cephoidea, Orussoidea, Pamphilioidea, Siricoidea, Tenthredinoidea, Xiphydrioidea and Xyeloidea are combined as one checklist section, as the sawflies represent a distinctive assemblage of phytophagous (except Orussidae) Hymenoptera. More than fifty years have passed since the publication of the final part of Robert B. Benson’s three part identification key to the “Symphyta” of the British Isles (Benson 1935, Benson 1952, Benson 1958). Whilst the first two parts were based substantially on the acute monography by Eduard Enslin (Enslin 1912, Enslin 1913, Enslin 1914, Enslin 1915, Enslin 1916, Enslin 1917 and Enslin 1918), Benson’s treatment of the Nematinae represented an original and significant step forward in our knowledge of this subfamily. The results of subsequent research on the British and Irish sawfly fauna were collated by Quinlan (1978). Since then, renewed investigation of the taxonomy of West Palaearctic sawflies has led to a great number of taxonomic and nomenclatural changes, affecting many taxa occurring in the British Isles.