EUURA DOLICHURA GROUP

Euura femoralis - Thighed Leaf-galler

Nematus femoralis Cameron, 1876
Pontania femoralis (Cameron, 1876)
Pontania robbinsi Benson, 1935

Confirmed records from Scotland and northern England. This species was considered as part of Pontania dolichura by Benson (1958) but, following the major review by Liston et al. (2017), Euura femoralis is considered to gall only Salix phylicifolia, a willow which is widespread south to Yorkshire and Lancashire. There are three confirmed older records and a number of very recent ones, but most historical records cannot be assigned with certainty in the absence of foodplant information (Musgrove, 2024).

See Liston et al (2017) for determination of adults. The host plant is an upland species. Within this group, males of Euura femoralis and Euura nigricantis are inseparable.

Larvae feed on Tea-leaved Willow causing an elongated gall, often paired, on the upper side of a leaf.

Jump to other group dolichura species

Size: Female: 3.0 - 3.9mm, male: 2.8 - 3.6mm

GB IUCN status: Data Deficient
GB rarity status: Unclear

Distribution: England, Scotland

Flight period: Univoltine

Plant associations: Salix phylicifolia (Tea-leaved Willow)

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.D., Heibo, E., Prous, M., Vårdal, H., Nyman, T. and Vikberg, V., 2017. North European gall-inducing Euura sawflies (Hymenoptera, Tenthredinidae, Nematinae). Zootaxa, 4302(1), pp.1-115.

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 Natural England, unpublished