Pristiphora amphibola - Ambivalent Spruce Sawyer, Ambivalent Spruce Sawfly
Pristiphora nigella group

North to central Scotland, slightly more frequent than some other spruce-feeding sawflies, but still a notably low volume of data given the abundance of the available foodplant in Britain. Still being identified on occasion. Much rarer than nigella in Fennoscandia (M. Mutanen pers. comm.) (Musgrove, 2024).

This species is similar to Pristiphora nigella but female amphibola are almost completely black and with a long sawsheath. Males can be distinguished by the penis valves.

Pristiphora amphibola larvae feed on Norway Spruce and Sitka Spruce.

Jump to other species of Pristiphora

Size: 4.5 - 5.00mm

GB IUCN status: Least Concern
GB rarity status: None

Distribution: England, Scotland, Wales

Flight period: Assumed April to May

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.D., 1981. Pristiphora (Lygaeophora) lanifica (Zaddach, 1882) new to Britain (Hymenoptera: Tenthredinidae). Entomologist's gazette.

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 Natural England, unpublished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