EUURA VIDUATA GROUP

Euura viduata - Widow Willow Nematine

Tenthredo viduata Zetterstedt, 1838
Nematus lepidotus Hartig, 1840
Nematus brachyotus Förster, 1854
Brachycoluma viduata (Zetterstedt, 1838)
Nematus notatus Förster, 1854
Nematus vagus Zaddach, 1883

North to central Scotland, frequently recorded (Musgrove, 2024). A widespread species that is very variable in colour. In the female, the mesopleura are shining without surface sculpture. Typically, the female is pale with much of the head, the mesopleura, tegulae, edge of the pronotum, legs and the apex and underside of the abdomen all being yellow. The sawsheath viewed from above is very narrow.

The male has the mesopleura entirely smooth and the hind femora and the tegulae mostly pale.

Euura viduata larvae feed on grey willow, eared willow, goat willow and creeping willow.

Size: Female: 5.0 - 6.5mm, male: 4.5 - 5.5mm.

GB IUCN status: Least Concern
GB rarity status: None

Distribution: England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland

Flight period: March to May

Plant associations: Salix atrocinerea, Salix aurita, Salix caprea and Salix repens (grey willow, eared willow, goat willow and creeping 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, 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 Natural England, unpublished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