Small World Discoveries

HYMENOPTERA > SYMPHYTA > Tenthredinidae > Tenthredininae > Tenthredinini

A relatively large (10-13mm), attractive, bright lime-green species that is very similar to Rhogogaster scalaris, but with the females having a much narrower black abdominal median stripe. The males typically have an entirely green abdomen or markings that are more like a broken stripe. A further visual distinguishing feature is that the black mark on the frons encloses two large green areas in front of the ocellar triangle; in scalaris, the green areas are much smaller.

Although I'm as confident as I can be about the identity of the individual featured below, it's worth noting that it is by far the less common of the two species and, according to the NBN Atlas database, the last official confirmed record from South Hampshire (VC11) was way back in 1998.

New species added, Feb.25 (v.1)