Pamphilioidea

File:Caenolyda reticulata (cropped).jpg

Caenolyda reticulata

The Pamphilioidea are a small superfamily within the Symphyta (the sawflies), containing some 250 living species restricted to the temperate regions of Eurasia and North America. These hymenopterans share the distinctive feature of a very large, almost prognathous head, which is widest ventrally.

The superfamily contains two extant families. The Pamphiliidae are the leaf-rolling or web-spinning sawflies such as Acantholyda, Neurotoma, and Pamphilius whose larvae eat plants such as conifers; the adults have simple filiform antennae. The Megalodontesidae include genera such as Megalodontes and several fossil groups. Their larvae eat herbaceous plants, while the adults have serrate or pectinate antennae.Template:Sfn

Bibliography

• , in Zhang, Z.-Q. (ed.) Animal Biodiversity: An Outline of Higher-level Classification and Survey of Taxonomic Richness (Addenda 2013)
• Rasnitsyn, Alexandr P.; Zhang, Haichun & Wang, Bo (2006): Bizarre fossil insects: web-spinning sawflies of the genus Ferganolyda (Vespida, Pamphilioidea) from the Middle Jurassic of Daohugou, Inner Mongolia, China. Palaeontology 49(4): 907-916. PDF fulltext