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Version: 18.11.2008 CHECKLIST OF BRITISH AND IRISH HYMENOPTERA SYMPHYTA
A. D. Liston & D. A. Sheppard
AL: Deutsches Entomologisches Institut, Eberswalder Str. 84, 15374 Müncheberg, Germany DS: 10 Stainfield Road, Hanthorpe, Bourne, Lincs., PE10 0RE
Introduction 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 1951, 1952, 1958). The importance of these works can hardly be overstated. Whilst the first two parts were based substantially on the acute monography by Eduard Enslin (Enslin 1912 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 Fitton et al. (1978). Since then, renewed investigation of the taxonomy of West Palaearctic Symphyta has led to a great number of taxonomic and nomenclatural changes, affecting many taxa occurring in the British Isles.
Of particular value in accessing the very extensive but widely scattered literature on sawflies, is the online database “Electronic World Catalog of Symphyta (ECatSym)” (Taeger & Blank 2008). Unfortunately, the only identification guide to the European “Symphyta” published since 1958 with a more than local geographical scope, by Zhelochovtsev (1988), suffers from its own particular weaknesses, such as the reliance placed on the opinions and illustrations of E. Lindqvist for the treatment of the Nematinae. Serious mistakes in the translation from Russian make the later English language editions of this work even more difficult to use.
Special problems are attached to the interpretation of records for some species not found in the British Isles since their inclusion in the works by Leach (1817) and Stephens (1835). Some of these are probably extinct, but their status as in the British Isles has in many cases never been unequivocally proved: see for example Benson (1943a). We therefore maintain the practice, as in Fitton et al. (1978), of marking names of such taxa with a preceding “?”. Further, the taxonomic status of some of the nominal taxa described from the British Isles by Hill, Stephens, Newman and Cameron is still unclear, particularly where no type material has been located.
Authorship and date of publication of taxa first described by Geoffroy, Panzer, Klug, Serville. Lepeletier, Zaddach and Brischke are adopted from the bibliographic researches of Taeger & Blank (1996, 2006) and Blank & Taeger (1998).
Arrangement of list
The listing of superfamilies is alphabetical, with families, subfamilies, tribes, genera, subgenera and species listed alphabetically within these.
Genera. The generic classification used here mainly follows the system of Benson (1951 1958). This has the advantages of being relatively simple and widely known. The present lack of phylogenetic analyses for most groups of Symphyta (but see Nyman et al. 2006 on the Nematinae), which might support alternative generic classifications, makes the adoption here of some of the recently proposed genera at least seem premature. Whilst it is probable that some of these will in the future come to be recognised as valid, they are listed here either as synonyms or as “subgenera” of the genera treated by Benson. Generally, the lack of detailed morphological and biological studies on the larvae of many European sawfly species, must be regarded as a major obstacle to our understanding of their phylogeny.
For each species name, the genus in which it was originally described follows the author’s name and date, where this differs from its current placement. Species names considered to be synonyms are treated in the same way as valid names, i. e. where necessary, the spelling is amended to agree with the gender of the genus in which it is at present placed. In some cases the most commonly used spelling in the literature therefore differs from that which appears here (e.g. Nematus astutus Cameron and Pristiphora (Lygaeotus) astutus (Cameron)). This should be borne in mind when searching the list for synonym names.
Synonymy. The genus and species group names are included selectively in the synonymy. For a complete current synonymy of all these, including important misidentifications, see ECatSym (Taeger & Blank 2006). Names have only been included below as synonyms when they fulfil one or both of the following criteria: