Heterarthrus ochropoda

Recorded locally across Britain, mostly in southern England but north to Speyside (Musgrove, 2023).

In females, the abdomen is black except for an off-white hypopygium. The wing is infuscated up to the stigma and hyaline thereafter. At most, the basal one-half of the hind femora are dark, with the hind trochanter and trochantellus mainly pale. The tegulae are entirely dark.

The male thorax has the upper mesepisternum mainly pale. The antennae have 12 to 14 segments with the pedicel and scape being pale. The abdomen is black above but mostly pale below.

Larvae form blister mines in poplars, especially aspen.

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Size: Females: 5 - 6.5mm, males: 4 - 5mm

GB IUCN Status: Least Concern
GB Rarity Status: None

Distribution: England, Scotland, Wales

Flight period: May to June

Plant associations: Populus tremula, Populus alba and Populus nigra (aspen, white and black poplar)

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

Liston, A., Mutanen, M. and Viitasaari, M., 2019. On the taxonomy of Heterarthrus (Hymenoptera, Tenthredinidae), with a review of the West Palaearctic species. Journal of Hymenoptera Research, 72, p.83.

Musgrove, A.J. 2023. A review of the status of sawflies of Great Britain - Phase 2: The Athaliidae and the Tenthredinidae (excluding Nematinae). Natural England, unpublished