Pristiphora compressa - Pressed Spruce Sawyer, Pressed Spruce Sawfly
Pristiphora abietina group

Very few records, scattered throughout Britain, although most of these have been recent. Benson (1958) noted that compressa had formerly been overlooked amongst abietina. Enston & Williams (2023) found this to be the fourth most numerous nematine in yellow bowl traps placed in two Welsh spruce forests (Musgrove, 2024).

In the female the basal part of the sawsheath is parallel sided when viewed from above and the sides of the ninth tergite alongside the sawsheath are dulled by microsculpture between the punctures. The ovipositor is no longer than the three basal tarsal segments and about as long as the middle tibia. The mesepisternum is black in compressa, but pale in the similar Pristiphora decipiens.

Pristiphora compressa larvae feed on spruces.

Jump to other species of Pristiphora

Size: 6.0 - 9.0mm

GB IUCN status: Least Concern
GB rarity status: None

Distribution: England, Scotland, Wales

Flight period: April to July

Plant associations: Picea spp. (spruces)

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 Natural England, unpublished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