Sawfly

Article summary

Sawflies are wasp-like insects that are in the suborder Symphyta within the order Hymenoptera. The common name comes from the saw-like appearance of the ovipositor, which females use to cut into the plants where they lay their eggs. The name is associated especially with the Tenthredinoidea, by far the largest superfamily in the suborder, with about 7,000 known species in the entire suborder. There are 8,000 described species in more than 800 genera. Despite their given taxonomic rank of suborder, Symphyta is a paraphyletic group, consisting of several basal groups within the order Hymenoptera, with each one rooted inside the previous group; the various superfamilies of insects called "sawfly" do form a natural group or clade, but this clade also includes the Apocrita – the ants, bees, and wasps – which are not considered sawflies. The primary distinction between sawflies and the Apocrita is that the adult sawflies (the imago) lack a "wasp waist" or petiole; the segments connecting the abdomen and the thorax smoothly transition between the two (leading to their scientific name). Sawflies first appeared 250 million years ago in the Triassic. The oldest superfamily, the Xyeloidea, is still extant today. Over 200 million years ago, a lineage of sawflies evolved a parasitoid lifestyle, with carnivorous larvae that ate the eggs or larvae of other insects.…

Key claims

1. date of establishment: 1863 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95

Discussion questions

1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
2. The record states that the date of establishment is "1863". What evidence would count against this claim?
3. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
4. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

1. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1371425762