Euura connecta (Lindqvist, 1958)

EUURA MYOSOTIDIS GROUP

Euura connecta - Link Willow Nematine

Pteronidea connecta Lindqvist, 1958
Nematus glaber Vikberg, 1982
Nematus politus (Lindqvist, 1974)
Pteronidea polita Lindqvist, 1974
Pteronidea nitida Lindqvist, 1969
Nematus nitidus (Lindqvist, 1969)
Euura glabra (Vikberg, 1982)
Euura nitida (Lindqvist, 1969)

Just four records from 2010 onwards, from high mountains in Perthshire to lowland Bedfordshire and Yorkshire. The species was not featured in Benson (1958) and this odd distribution of records suggests that it has been overlooked to date (Musgrove, 2024).

First recorded in Scotland in 2010 and subsequently found in 2023 in both Yorkshire and Bedfordshire.

The female is marked with yellowish-brown on the mouthparts, clypeus, orbits (though the inner orbits may be black), temples, pronotal corners, tegulae, mesonotum, scutellum, mesopleura, abdomen and legs.  The antennae are mostly black but brownish below from the third segment. They are about as long as the abdomen with the third segment slightly shorter than fourth, a little shorter than the longitudinal diameter of an ocellus. Black are the ocellar area, the occiput and the mesonotum has three large stripes connected to each other at the back to form a U-shape. Also black are the tip of the scutellum and its appendage, the metanotum, tergites 1 - 7, the tip of the saw sheath, propleurae, metapleurae in part and the mesosternum. The wings are almost clear with brown veins, a pale brown costa and a yellowish stigma.

Males are marked more richly with black which covers most of the head, thorax and abdomen on the dorsal surface.

The larvae feed solitarily on willows.
 

Size: Approx. 5 - 7mm

GB IUCN status: Data Deficient
GB rarity status: Nationally Rare

Distribution: England, Scotland

Flight period: April to July

Plant associations: Salix spp. (willows)