Euura clitellata (Serville, 1823)

EUURA CLITELLATA GROUP

Euura clitellata (formerly Pachynematus clitellatus) - Saddleback Grass Nematine

Nematus clitellatus Serville, 1823
Pachynematus aequalis Lindqvist, 1974
Pachynematus clitellatus (Serville, 1823)
Nematus kirbyi Dahlbom, 1835
Nematus flaviventris Hartig, 1840
Nematus griseus Eversmann, 1847
Nematus diaphanus Eversmann, 1847
Nematus umbripennis Eversmann, 1847
Epitactus praecox Förster, 1854
Nematus trisignatus Förster, 1854
Nematus microps Förster, 1854
Nematus extensicornis (Norton, 1861)
Nematus pectoralis Vollenhoven, 1867
Nematus turgidus Zaddach, 1876
Nematus tener Zaddach, 1884
Pachynematus foveolatus Konow, 1903
Pachynematus glesipennis Konow, 1903
Pachynematus lentus Konow, 1903
Pachynematus zaddachi Konow, 1903
Pachynematus truncatus Benson, 1948
Pachynematus smithae Ross, 1945
Euura aequalis (Lindqvist, 1974)
Euura smithae (Ross, 1945)

North to Shetland. One of the most common and widespread sawflies, even more so since the former kirbyi and truncatus have been lumped into the same species (as well as smithiae, only identified as British from one or two specimens) (Musgrove, 2024).

A variable species both in terms of lightness/darkness and morphology. It is broadly similar to Euura fallax. Benson treated clitellatus and truncatus as separate species, but these are now considered as one under clitellata. Euura kirbyi may also be a variant of clitellata. Based on nuclear genes, clitellata contains at least four species and fallax three or four, but morphological differences are unclear so splitting is unlikely in the near future (Prous, pers. comms.).

A sawfly of meadows and grasslands.  The male is mostly a browny-black but usually with a paler orange-brown hypopygium. The male has a square to rectangular projection at the apex of the eighth tergite which is rounded or truncate at the end and, at most, minimally indented at the base of the projection. The projection may be pale or darkened centrally. The female is marked with orange-brown to a greater or lesser extent and may be green or orange-brown on the sternites. Females can often be separated from fallax by the colouration on the mesoscutellum. If the mesoscutellum has some pale colour, then it has a black line in the middle in fallax, whilst in clitellata it is then either completely pale or pale anteriorly.

Euura clitellata larvae feed on grasses, sedges and rushes.

Size: 6 - 7mm.

GB IUCN status: Least Concern
GB rarity status: None

Distribution: England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland

Flight period: May to September

Plant associations: Gramineae, Carex, Juncus (grasses, sedges, rushes)