Pseudodineura mentiens - Liver-leaf Sawfly 

Was found to be locally abundant in 2005 at Edinburgh Botanic Gardens (Liston & Blank 2006), but has not been reported elsewhere. The foodplants are not widely established in the wild in Britain (Musgrove, 2024).

Femora entirely pale, or rarely with a small patch of infuscation.

In the female the pronotum is pale edged to almost completely pale. The abdomen is black but with a row of small pale spots dorsally along the midline. All the tarsal segments are pale. Males have an entirely black mesepisternum and the abdomen is black above and pale below.

Pseudodineura mentiens larvae mine the leaves of ornamental liver-leaf plants. Only leaves of the current year are mined.

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Size: Female: 4.5 - 6mm, male: 3.5 - 4.5mm

GB IUCN status: Not applicable
GB rarity status: Not Applicable

Distribution: Scotland

Flight period: April to June

Plant associations: Hepatica transsilvanica (liver-leaf)

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

Liston, A., Prous, M. and Vardal, H., 2019. The West Palaearctic Pseudodineura and Endophytus species (Hymenoptera, Tenthredinidae). Zootaxa, 4614(3), pp.511-528.

Musgrove, A.J. 2024. A review of the status of sawflies of Great Britain - Phase 3: The Tenthredinidae (subfamily Nematinae). Natural England, unpublished