Dead-wood-ecology
Guides
Laphriinae
robber flies
Laphriinae is a subfamily of robber flies (family Asilidae) containing over 110 genera and 1,000 described species. Adults are predatory, with many species exhibiting mimicry of bees and wasps. The subfamily is notable for its larval ecology: all species have larvae that prey on wood-boring beetle larvae, primarily in families Buprestidae and Cerambycidae. Some species have specialized host relationships, such as Hyperechia larvae developing within cells of Xylocopa carpenter bees.
Pristaulacus niger
Pristaulacus niger is a species of aulacid wasp found in North America. Aulacid wasps are parasitoids of wood-boring beetle larvae, particularly longhorned beetles (Cerambycidae) and jewel beetles (Buprestidae). They are often overlooked due to their superficial resemblance to ichneumon wasps. The genus Pristaulacus includes some of the larger species in the family Aulacidae.
Xiphydriidae
wood wasps, swordtail sawflies
Xiphydriidae is a family of approximately 150 species of wood wasps distributed worldwide across North and South America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and other regions. Adults are distinguished by their globose (dome-shaped) heads borne on long, slender necks, with body lengths ranging from 6–21 mm. Larvae are wood borers in dead or dying trees and branches, where they feed on symbiotic fungi rather than wood directly. The family has a fossil record extending to the mid-Cretaceous, with the oldest known fossils from this period.