Arge fuscipes - Dark Birch Fusehorn

Arge fuscipes is one of the black species. Despite taxonomic confusion over the years, specimens confirmed to be true fuscipes are known mostly from lowland England, although examples from Perthshire in 2010 and Speyside in 2014 muddy the waters in this respect (Musgrove, 2022). There are no confirmed Welsh records yet. This species has a black mark on the forewing beneath the black stigma. Females can be separated from the similar Arge expansa by the costa of the forewing being black (pale in expansa) and males have an entirely black hind tibia (expansa have a white base).

Larvae feed on birches or willow.

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Size: 9 - 11mm.

IUCN Status: Least Concern
GB Rarity Status: None

Distribution: England, Scotland and Ireland

Flight period: May to June

Plant associations: Betula spp. and Salix spp.. Birches and willows (Muche, 1977).

The National Biodiversity Network records are shown on the map below. (See terms and conditions)

References:

Benson, R.B., 1952. Handbooks for the Identification of British Insects. Hymenoptera, Symphyta, Vol 6, Section 2(a-c), Royal Entomological Society, London

Lindqvist, E. 1973: Taxonomische Bemerkungen über einige Blattwespen I (Hymenoptera, Symphyta). - Notulae Entomologicae, Helsingfors 53: 33-39

Liston A, Knight G, Sheppard D, Broad G, Livermore L (2014) Checklist of British and Irish Hymenoptera - Sawflies, ‘Symphyta’. Biodiversity Data Journal 2: e1168. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.2.e1168

Muche, W. H. 1977: Die Argidae von Europa, Vorderasien und Nordafrika (mit Ausnahme der Gattung Aprosthema) (Hymenoptera, Symphyta). - Entomologische Abhandlungen. Staatliches Museum für Tierkunde in Dresden , Leipzig 41, Supplement: 23-59.

Musgrove, A.J. 2022. A review of the status of sawflies of Great Britain - Phase 1: families other than Tenthredinidae. Natural England, unpublished