Pristiphora breadalbanensis ( CAMERON , 1882)

Liston, A. D., Knight, G. T., Heibo, E., Bland, K. P., Barstad, Trond Elling, Blank, S. M., Boeve, J. - L., Fiedler, K., Grearson, K. J., Halstead, A., Jacobs, H. - J., Jansen, E., Lonnve, O., Prous, M., Robinson, J. & Taeger, A., 2012, On Scottish sawflies, with results of the 14 International Sawfly Workshop, in the southern Highlands, 2010 (Hymenoptera, Symphyta), Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 62, pp. 1-68 : 48

Pristiphora breadalbanensis ( CAMERON, 1882)

Meall Odhar, Perths.(89), N01577 , cocoon below Empetrum , 26.iii.2003 [8736] (reared) leg. Bland, det. Liston.

Baddoch, 4.vi.2010, 1 ♂, leg. Blank, Liston & Taeger.

Although adult Pristiphora breadalbanensis and P. lativentris (sometimes placed in subgenus Lygaeotus ) are frequently abundant in Scotland and more locally in the Alps, few successful rearings are documented. Larval hosts for the entire coactula species group [‘ Lygaeotus ’] remain largely unknown or are sometimes indicated by single records that require confirmation, because of the considerable uncertainties attached to species taxonomy and identification. To date, published comments, apparently based solely on field observations on adults, suggested alternatively the hostplant of P. lativentris to be Vaccinium ( Benson 1955) or Salix ( Lacourt 1999) . Nobody has hazarded more than a guess on the host of P. breadalbanensis , although from limited field observations by Liston it seems probably to be Salix herbacea or [and] Vaccinium myrtillus in Scotland. Of great interest are the observations by Benson (1935: 36) on successful oviposition of a female, in the field, that he identified as Lygaeonematus coactulus var. boreus Konow , into plants as diverse as Gnaphalium supinum , Vaccinium uliginosum and Galium saxatile . Note that he made this observation on “Meall Ghaordie” [now usually spelled Meall Ghaordaidh], but later ( Benson 1958) he recorded Pristiphora borea in Britain only from “near the summits of Schiehallion, and Beinn à Chuallaich, vi.1931 ”, suggesting that he no longer considered the Meall Ghaordaidh specimen to be this species. These three tops are however not far apart (standing almost in a line of about 25 km between Meall Ghaordaidh in the West and Beinn à Chuallaich in the East). Most sawflies are highly selective with regard to choice of plant species for oviposition. In most cases this is known to be only on or in the larval host species. Apart from Benson’s observation, no similar indications of selection of oviposition sites other than on the larval host(s) have been recorded in other Nematinae . There are however some well documented examples of habitual oviposition into species of plants other than larval hosts by certain Macrophya species (Tenthredininae) ( Chevin 2009). Do some Pristiphora (Lygaeotus) species also oviposit in plants which are not their [usual] hosts? Or are perhaps some species more widely polyphagous than previously thought?