Rhogogaster chambersi BENSON, 1947

Liston, Andrew D., 2015, New records and host plants of Symphyta (Hymenoptera) for Germany, Berlin and Brandenburg, Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 65 (2), pp. 383-391 : 387

Rhogogaster chambersi BENSON, 1947

Brandenburg: 7 larvae, 10–15 mm long, Landkreis Märkisch-Oderland, Müncheberg, Trebnitz , Schlag Dachsberge , 52.526°N 14.241°E, 28.06.2015 feeding on oilseed flax, Linum usitatissimum subsp. usitatissimum L. variety “Lirina” .

The larvae were observed in hot, sunny conditions during the early afternoon. They are solitary. Some were found at rest, coiled on the leaf underside; smaller ones fed on leaf margins, whereas larger ones (Figs 7–8), probably in their final feeding instar, moved around a lot and mainly consumed leaves from the tip, but seldom ate more than about a quarter of the leaf. Because only seven larvae were found during a slightly more than two hour-long visual search of plants in a small area at the corner of the field (total area planted with Linum : 62.1 ha), R. chambersi cannot be stated to have been causing any significant damage to the part of the crop in which it was found. The larva and its behaviour have already been described in considerable detail by CHAMBERS (1951). However, he recorded only Linum catharticum as a host: L. usitatissimum is apparently a new host plant record.