Cladius ulmi

According to Prous et al, 2019, there is currently no reliable key or species treatment available for this genus. The description follows Benson (Priophorus laevifrons).

The head on the frons and temples above smooth and shining without sculpture or hair-warts. Cladius ulmi is a black sawfly with pale tibiae and tarsi on all legs. The wings are subhyaline. The abdomen without any brown spot in the middle of the first tergite.

Larvae feed on elm creating holes in the leaf surface between the veins. They can be distinguished from the other elm feeding species, Cladius rufipes, by the presence of a black spot on the front of the face which is absent in rufipes.

Jump to other Cladius species

Size: 5 - 6.5mm

Status: Local

Distribution: England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland

Flight period: Bivoltine, May to August

Plant associations: Ulmus spp. (elms)

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

Chevin, H. 2003: Biologie et description de la larve de Priophorus ulmi (Linné, 1758) (Hymenoptera, Tenthredinidae, Cladiinae). - Bulletin des Naturalistes des Yvelines, Versailles 30: 61-64.

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

Prous, M., Liston, A., Kramp, K., Savina, H., Vårdal, H. and Taeger, A., 2019. The West Palaearctic genera of Nematinae (Hymenoptera, Tenthredinidae). ZooKeys, 875, p.63.