Pristiphora abietina - Gregarious Spruce Sawyer, Gregarious Spruce Sawfly
Pristiphora abietina group

There had been no records since 1971 until Enston & Williams (2023) found the species to be the second most frequent nematine in yellow bowl traps in two Welsh spruce forests. This emphasises how incomplete the recording of pest species of commercial forestry is. Benson (1958) had described the species as being "widespread through Britain and locally destructive" (Musgrove, 2024).

In the female the basal part of the sawsheath is parallel sided when viewed from above and the sides of the 9th tergite alongside the sawsheath are dulled by microsculpture between the punctures. This species is smaller than the similar Pristiphora compressa. The ovipositor is longer than the four basal tarsal segments and longer than the middle tibia.

Pristiphora abietina larvae feed on norway, sitka and other spruces and have been locally destructive in the past.

Jump to other species of Pristiphora

Size: 4 - 6.5mm

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

Distribution: England, Wales, Ireland

Flight period: May to July

Plant associations: Picea abies and Picea sitchensis (norway spruce and sitka spruce)

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 Natural England, unpublished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., Kramp, K., Vikberg, V. and Liston, A., 2017. north-Western Palaearctic species of Pristiphora (hymenoptera, tenthredinidae). Journal of Hymenoptera Research, Vol. 59