Xeris
| Xeris | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Type species: X spectrum | |
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| X. morrisoni. | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Clade: | Euarthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Siricidae |
| Genus: |
Xeris A. Costa, 1894 |
| Type species | |
|
Ichneumon spectrum Linnaeus, 1758 |
|
| Diversity | |
| 16 species | |
| Synonyms | |
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Xeris is a genus of horntails found in North America and Eurasia. Achille Costa circumscribed the genus in 1894.
In 1987, Malkiat S. Saini and Devinder Singh circumscribed a new genus, Neoxeris upon their description of a new species, which they called Neoxeris melanocephala. In 2012, N. melanocephala was transferred to Xeris, making Neoxeris a junior synonym.X. melanocephalus was later synonymized with X. himalayensis.
Characteristic features of Xeris compared to other genera of Siricidae genera include: a hind wing with which lacks a cell cup, a small vertical ridge behind the eye, and a metatibial spur.
Xeris species are found in North America and Eurasia. In North America, they're found from the boreal forests in Alaska and Canada south through Chiapas in southern Mexico. They are found in temperate and boreal regions of Eurasia as well as mountains of southern Eurasia including Morocco, India, China, and Taiwan.
As of 2015[update], Xeris consists of sixteen species:
Xeris caudatus (Cresson, 1865) was initially placed in the genus Urocerus by Ezra Townsend Cresson in his species description. Its type locality is the Colorado Territory.
Xeris chiricahua Smith, 2012 was described by David R. Smith. Its type locality is Rustler Park, Chiricahua Mountains, Arizona.
Xeris cobosi Viedma & Suárez, 1961 was first described by M. G. de Viedma and F. J. Suárez as a subspecies of X. spectrum. It was moved to the species level in 2015. Its type locality is Tizi-Ifri, Morocco.
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