EUURA FAHRAEI GROUP

Euura fahraei - Fahrae's Aspen Nematine

Nematus fahraei Thomson, 1863
Nematus brunnescens Vikberg, 1982
Nematus brunneus (Lindqvist, 1971)
Pteronidea brunnea Lindqvist, 1971
Nematus melanodus Zaddach, 1884
Euura brunnescens (Vikberg, 1982)

North to northern Scotland but few records. Targeted searching of Aspens could be useful in better determining its status (Musgrove, 2024).

The head, mesonotum and some of the abdomen is brownish to reddish-yellow. In the female, the scutellum lacks a black band across the posterior margin and the abdomen is at most marked with black along the midline of the basal three tergites. The mesonotum is dulled by fine surface sculpture. The antennae is entirely black except for the underside of the apical segments. Male undescribed.

Euura fahraei larvae feed on aspen. Probably more widespread than recorded in aspen thickets.

Size: Female: 6.0 - 7.0mm.

GB IUCN status: Near Threatened
GB rarity status: Nationally Rare

Distribution: England, Scotland

Flight period: May to June

Plant associations: Populus tremula (aspen).

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

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. 2024. A review of the status of sawflies of Great Britain - Phase 3: The Tenthredinidae (subfamily Nematinae). Natural England, unpublished

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.63-127