| Sirex | |
|---|---|
| Sirex noctilio | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Suborder: | Symphyta |
| Superfamily: | Siricoidea |
| Family: | Siricidae |
| Genus: | Sirex Linnaeus, 1761 |
| Species | |
Sirex is a genus of wood wasp in the Siricidae family. It infects coniferous wood where it lays eggs with its large ovipositor, along with a fungal endosymbiont which partially digests the wood for the larva. The fungus is kept in mycangia which are lined with glands which produce secretions which nourish the fungus which is deposited through pores opening into the ovipositor during oviposition.
The Sirex Woodwasp and its fungal symbionts; Research and Management of a worldwide invasive pest. By Bernard Slippers, Peter de Groot, Michael John Wingfield. Springer Science and Business Media, to be published in 2012