Pristiphora carinata - Keeled Bilberry Sawyer
Pristiphora carinata group

Widespread amongst Bilberry in northern and western Britain, with some records outside the range of this plant being suspect (some have apparently been scrambled through mistaken synonymies of pallidiventris via the name denudata) (Musgrove, 2024).

The stigma is always pale and the hind femur usually infuscated. The scutellum is glossy and virtually impunctate. The sawsheath is tapered and more or less triangular when viewed from above. The female is best determined by the characteristics of the saw. Males are best determined by the penis valve.

Pristiphora carinata larvae feed on bilberry and is therefore associated with moorlands and heaths.

Jump to other species of Pristiphora

Size: Assumed 5.5 - 7.5mm

GB IUCN status: Endangered
GB rarity status: None

Distribution: England, Scotland, Wales

Flight period: May to July

Plant associations: Vaccinium myrtillus (bilberry)

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 Natural England, unpublished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