Athalia cornubiae - Stonecrop Tigress

Relatively little-known and the males remain non-separable from Athalia liberta. Benson (1952) was only aware of four British records. More have come to light subsequently, including interesting series from both rural and urban settings.  Urban records from Sheffield and London suggest this species could well be overlooked in such settings (Musgrove, 2023).

All the tibia in Athalia cornubiae are ringed apically in black and the thorax has lateral and ventral sides orangy. The prescutum and scutellum are black. In females the hypogidium lacks lateral lobes but is strongly incised each side of the middle. Males cannot be separated from Athalia liberta males.

Larvae feed on stonecrops.

Jump to other Athalia species

Size: 5-7mm

GB IUCN Status: Vulnerable
GB Rarity Status: Nationally Scarce

Distribution: England, Wales

Flight period: May to September

Plant associations: Sedum spp (stonecrops) including Sedum album (White Stonecrop) and Sedum hispanicum (Spanish Stonecrop)

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

Hoebeke, E.R., Smith, D.R. and Goulet, H., 2011. Athalia cornubiae Benson (Hymenoptera: Tenthredinidae: Allantinae), a sawfly genus and species new to North America. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington, 113(3), pp.309-314.

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

Musgrove, A.J. 2023. A review of the status of sawflies of Great Britain - Phase 2: The Athaliidae and the Tenthredinidae (excluding Nematinae). Natural England, unpublished