Gilpinia frutetorum - Nursery Pine Combhorn

All records up to 1995 were from native pinewood in Scotland, but from 2012 all records have been in England. The native population, considered alone, could be considered threatened, or under-recorded, but has been bolstered by the apparent colonisation of south-east England (Musgrove, 2022). This is the only Gilpinia species in Britain where the female's inner apical spur of the hind tibia is normal and not shaped like a scale. In the male, the pronotum is black with at most a narrow hind edge coloured yellow and the clypeus and labrum mostly black.

Larvae are solitary feeders on young pines, especially Scots pine.

Jump to other Diprionidae genera and species

Size: 7 - 9mm

GB IUCN Status:Least Concern
GB Rarity Status:None

Distribution: England, Scotland

Flight period: Bivoltine, May to June, and sometimes Aug to Oct

Plant associations: Pinus sylvestris (Scots Pine).

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

Hanski, I., 1987. Pine sawfly population dynamics: patterns, processes, problems. Oikos, pp.327-335.

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. 2022. A review of the status of sawflies of Great Britain - Phase 1: families other than Tenthredinidae. Natural England, unpublished