Cephalcia arvensis - Meadow Spruce Spinner

First reported from males found in Bedfordshire in 2025. The species had been previously been added to the British list on the strength of a single specimen in the Carr collection. However, it was removed from the checklist as a significant number of specimens in the Carr collection have been discredited as not of British origin despite their labelling.

Cephalicia arvensis can be found in forest openings and along spruce tree shelter belts bordering meadows. 

Cephalcia arvensis is variable in colour with darker forms in the north of the distribution. These darker colour forms have previously been considered as the species Cephalcia intermedia but there is unbroken continuum between the pale and dark forms and intermedia is now synonymised with arvensis. 

Ova are deposited singly on the needles and are protected by a dark sticky ring around the needle. Larvae spin a papery silk tube on the underside of twigs and feed on the needles. They overwinter as a prepupa and pupate in early spring.

Jump to other Pamphiliidae

Size: approx. 10 - 13mm

GB IUCN Status: Not Assessed
GB Rarity Status: Not Assessed

Distribution: England

Flight period: Univoltine (in waves), April to August.

Plant associations: Picea spp (spruces) including Picea abies (Norway Spruce) and in the East Palaearctic Picea koraiensis (Korean Spruce) and Picea jezoensis (Jezo Spruce).

The National Biodiversity Network records map is not yet available

References:

Battisti, A. 1994: Voltinism and diapause in the spruce web-spinning sawfly Cephalcia arvensis. - Entomologia experimentalis et applicata, Amsterdam 70: 105-113

Battisti, A. & Cescatti, A. 1994: Temperature-Dependent Growth Model for Eggs and Larvae of Cephalcia arvensis (Hymenoptera: Pamphiliidae). - Environmental Entomology, Lanham 23(4): 805-811

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., Mutanen, M., Heidemaa, M., Blank, S.M., Kiljunen, N., Taeger, A., Viitasaari, M., Vikberg, V., Wutke, S. and Prous, M., 2022. Taxonomy and nomenclature of some Fennoscandian Sawflies, with descriptions of two new species (Hymenoptera, Symphyta). Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift, 69(2).

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

Marchisio, C.; Cescatti, A. & Battisti, A. 1994: Climate, soils and Cephalcia arvensis outbreaks on Picea abies in the Italian Alps. - Reports, University of Helsinki, Department of Applied Zoology, Helsinki 68(2-3): 375-384

Meterc, G.; Borkovi#c, D.; Jurc, M. 2014: Outbreak of the spruce web-spinning sawfly Cephalcia arvensis (Hymenoptera: Pamphiliidae) in Slovenia.Gradacija smrekine ose predivice Cephalcia arvensis (Hymenoptera: Pamphiliidae) u Sloveniji,  Šumarski list, 138(5-6), pp.293-299.

Shaw, M. R. 2003: Adverse comment on the supposed British status of the web-spinning sawfly Cephalcia arvensis Panzer (Hymenoptera: Pamphiliidae). - British Journal of Entomology and Natural History, London 16(1): 2

Viitasaari, M. ed., 2002. Sawflies (Hymenoptera, Symphyta), I: a review of the suborder, the Western Palaearctic taxa of Xyeloidea and Pamphilioidea (Vol. 1). Tremex Press.