ARS | Publication request: A NEW GENUS AND SPECIES OF ALLANTINAE (HYMENOPTERA: TENTHREDINIDAE) FROM SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES.

Submitted to: Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: December 1, 1996
Publication Date: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Sawflies feed on plants and are part of the plant-feeding complex of insects that cause considerable damage to crops, forests, and ornamentals. A new genus and species was discovered from coastal Alabama. The larva presumably feeds on the flowers of wireweed, a plant of the sandhills in the Coastal Plain of southeastern United States, and may be important in studies of the effect of plant-feeding insects on the reproductive capabilities of plants. The description provides a name, and characters of the adult are described and illustrated to permit ready identification of the species. The information provided will be of use to APHIS/PPQ and others charged with the identification of insects.

Technical Abstract: Allantunicus autumnalis, a new genus and a new species of Tenthredinidae, subfamily Allantinae, is described from the sand dune area of coastal Alabama. The genus and species are diagnosed and compared to other North American Allantinae. Evidence strongly suggests that the larva feeds on inflorescences of Polygonella gracillis (Polygonaceae).