EUURA VIMINALIS GROUP

Euura myrsiniticola - Whortle-leaf Pea-galler

Pontania myrsiniticola Kopelke, 1991
Eupontania myrsiniticola (Kopelke, 1991)

A recently recognised species. Six records from the Scottish Highlands, all recent (Musgrove, 2024).

See Liston et al (2017) for determination of adults. The host plant is an upland species. Within this group, males of Euura aquilonis, crassipes, collectanea, myrsiniticola, pedunculi, saliciscinereae, samolad, viminalis, herbaceae and arbusculae are inseparable.

Euura myrsiniticola larvae feed on Whortle-leaved Willow. The gall is in contact with the midrib, projecting above and below the leaf-blade. The pea or bean shaped gall is usually about two-thirds on the underside of the leaf.

Jump to other group viminalis species

Size: Female: 2.4 - 4.6mm, male: 3.0 - 3.3mm

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

Distribution: Scotland

Flight period: Univoltine

Plant associations: Salix myrsinites (Whortle-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.

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 Natural England, unpublished

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