Euura monticola (Thomson, 1871)

EUURA MYOSOTIDIS GROUP

Euura monticola - Marsh Cinquefoil Nematine

Nematus monticola Thomson, 1871
Pachynematus vaginosus Konow, 1903
Polynematus vaginosus (Konow, 1903)
Euura vaginosa (Konow, 1903)

Scattered records from Scotland and northern England. Very seldom noted, with just two sites mentioned by Benson (1958) and only another four individuals encountered since. The lack of any from the 2010 international meeting in Perthshire is noteworthy, although perhaps the specific habitat was not targeted. Benson didn't know what the larvae fed on; it now appears that this is Marsh Cinquefoil, widespread but somewhat localised in the north and even more so further south (Musgrove, 2024).

In the female the head is black with the labrum and clypeus always yellow and usually with an upper eye spot. In the male the whole head is orange with a more or less large frontal postocellar black stain. The thorax is black with the posterior corners of the pronotum and tegulae yellow. The abdomen is predominantly orange, though the male has the basal tergite black and the following tergites with black transverse marks, and the female from the third tergite either with small central spots or completely orange-red. The legs are yellow often with black on the base of the coxae, the lateral faces of the femora, and the apices of the tibia and tarsi.

Euura monticola larvae feed on marsh cinquefoil.

Size: Female: 6.0 - 7.0mm, male: 5.5 - 6.5mm.

GB IUCN status: Endangered
GB rarity status: Nationally Rare

Distribution: England, Scotland

Flight period: June

Plant associations: Potentilla palustris (marsh cinquefoil)