Argidae (Hymenoptera: Tenthredinoidea) of the world: an overview of research on the family including sawfly-plant networks

ABSTRACT The Argidae comprise a monophyletic taxon of primarily herbivorous Hymenoptera that exhibits a broad variety of behaviors and morphologies, along with an intimate relationship with host plants. Due to the limited knowledge of general patterns and gaps in understanding various aspects of this family, we investigated the global scientific literature on this topic. Our main objective was to conduct a scientometric analysis and a systematic review of this family to: (i) characterize and quantify research spatially and temporally; (ii) identify the principal authors of the published papers; (iii) categorize the types of studies; (iv) evaluate the interaction networks between sawflies and their host plants; (v) advise on future directions for studies on Argidae. Our results support previous studies indicating that Argidae larvae feed exclusively on eudicots, with a diversified number of host plants. We found an increase in the number of publications about the family over the last two decades. However, the scientific literature is geographically and taxonomically unbalanced, with the most diverse biogeographic Neotropical and Palearctic regions still being neglected. Our results highlight that the number of specialist authors on this topic is low, but substantial collaboration webs and the emergence of new researchers in recent years were detected. Considering these findings, future research should focus on regions with gaps in knowledge of fauna and encourage the training of new specialists in this group. As herbivores, sawfly larvae play an important role in ecosystem balance; therefore, investigations into the most diverse research trends are encouraged.