Horntails (Hymenoptera: Siricidae, Xiphydriidae) of Baikal Siberia, Russia

Baikal Siberia includes the territories of the Irkutsk Oblast, the Republic of Buryatia and the Zabaikalskii Krai. Horntails attract the close attention of researchers, since among them there are dangerous forest pests. The first information about the horntails of Baikal Siberia was obtained in 1898. There are still gaps in knowledge about the horntail fauna of Baikal Siberia, although the fact that several generations of entomologists have studied this fauna. Therefore, the aim of this study is to review the horntail fauna of Baikal Siberia, taking into account new data on the distribution and fodder wood species of individual horntail species in the region. The research was done using the entomological collection of the Core Facilities Center “Bioresource Center” at the Siberian Institute of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry SB RAS (Irkutsk, Russia). Insect collections were carried out for the period from 1952 to 2003 The 352 specimens of 11 species of horntails from 4 genera were processed in total. In addition to this material, literary sources were also used. The 18 species of horntails from 7 genera, 3 subfamilies and 2 families were recorded in the study area as a result. The schematic map of the collection plots for 11 species was presented for the first time (See Fig. 1). A total of 50 collection plots have been allocated. These collection plots include 256 collection places. The arealogical group with territories of importation, collection plots and fodder wood species were presented for each species. Four arealogical groups were distinguished: Transpalaearctic (44.4%), Subtranspalearctic (5.6%), Central-East Palaearctic (44.4%), and Central Palaearctic (5.6%). Horntails were divided into four groups according to trophic characteristics in the study territory: group invading only conifer trees (50.0%), group invading only of deciduous trees (38.9%), and group invading of conifer trees and deciduous trees (polyphage) (5.6%). There is also Tremex satanas Semenov, 1921, which does not yet have data on the development of larvae. The most dangerous pests in Baikal Siberia are three species of horntails: Sirex ermak (Semenov, 1921), S. juvencus juvencus (Linnaeus, 1758) and Urocerus gigas (Linnaeus, 1758). S. ermak is one of the main pests of Larix sibirica. S. ermak was a massive secondary pest in stands damaged by the Dendrolimus superans sibiricus Tschetverikov, 1908 in the Baikal region. S. juvencus juvencus causes great technical harm, depreciating wood, prefers pine. U. gigas is a serious technical pest of wood and spreads spores of various wood-destroying fungi. The article contains 1 Figure, and 25 References. The author is thankful to T.A. Agafonova (Institute of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry of Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Irkutsk, Russian Federation) for help in working with the entomological collection. The Author declares no conflict of interest.

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