Brachythops flavens

Recorded widely across all of mainland Britain (Musgrove, 2023).

The thorax is black and the abdomen yellow. The wings are yellowish with yellow veins in the basal half and a black stigma. The front mesonotal lobe is shining with very sparse pubescence. The clypeus is margined with yellow. The pronotum is mostly yellow and the first antennal segment usually also yellow.

Brachythops flavens larvae feed on sedges in wet habitats including moorland mires.

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Size: 6 - 7mm

GB IUCN Status: Least Concern
GB Rarity Status: None

Distribution: England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland

Flight period: Bivoltine, May to June and July to August.

Plant associations: Carex spp. (sedges)

References:

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

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 Natural England, unpublished