Brachythops wuestneii

Seldom recorded, with the majority of the 15 records in Scotland, as well as N Wales and the Shropshire mosses (Musgrove, 2023).

The thorax is black and the abdomen yellow. The wings are infuscate except for the extreme base and the stigma is yellowish-brown posteriorly. The front mesonotal lobe is finely punctured with dense pubescence. The clypeus is entirely black. The pronotum is mostly black and the first antennal segment also black.

Brachythops wuestneii larvae feed on slender sedge in wet habitats including moorland mires and bogs.

Jump to other species of Brachythops

Size: 6 - 7mm

Status: Least Concern
Status: Nationally Scarce

Distribution: England, Scotland, Wales

Flight period: May to June

Plant associations: Carex lasiocarpa (slender sedge)

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 Natural England, unpublished