The
Anaxyelidae are a
wood wasp family within the
Symphyta, containing only a single living species,
Syntexis libocedrii, (also called the
cedar wood wasp or
incense-cedar wood wasp), though the family has an extensive
Mesozoic fossil record; this species is thus a "
living fossil". It has the remarkable behavior of ovipositing only in recently burnt incense-cedar (
Calocedrus), red cedar (
Thuja) or juniper (
Juniperus); the wood is often still smoldering when the wasp is laying its eggs, and the larvae develop in the wood. It occurs from the mountains of central
California to southern
British Columbia, but is very rarely seen, except by firefighters.