Megalodontesidae

Megalodontesidae
Megalodontes sp.
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Suborder: Symphyta
Superfamily: Pamphilioidea
Family: Megalodontesidae
Konow, 1897
Genera

See text

Synonyms

Praesiricidae Rasnitsyn, 1968

The Megalodontesidae (until recently spelled Megalodontidae, a name already in use for a family of fossil molluscs) are a small family of sawflies, containing a single living genus, Megalodontes, with some 40 species restricted to the temperate regions of Eurasia. Larvae of Megalodontesidae feed on herbaceous plants. They are distinguished from the closely related Pamphiliidae by their serrate or pectinate antennae.

In 2016, a phylogenetic analysis of the superfamily Pamphilioidea found that the extinct family Praesiricidae was paraphyletic with respect to Megalodontesidae, so Praesiricidae was proposed as a synonym of Megalodontesidae.