Macrophya albipuncta (FALLÉN, 1808)

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 : 39

Macrophya albipuncta (FALLÉN, 1808)

Roseburn, 1 ♀ 2 ♂♂, 10.vi.2010, leg. Liston; 1 ♀, 16.vi.2010, leg. Liston; 1 ♀ 1 ♂, 17.vi.2010, leg. Liston. Larvae abundant on leaf-edges of Geranium pratense L., causing defoliation of some whole plants, Roseburn, W. of Leith, 20.vi.2010.

Longniddry Bents, 4 ♀♀, 11.vi.2010, leg. Liston ( SDEI, RSME) .

No Geranium species other than G. pratense was present at Roseburn. Leaves of a double flowered garden variety of Geranium (perhaps also G. pratense ) in Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh, were severely damaged by abundant larvae, 28.vi.2010. At Longniddry adults were swept from G. sanguineum L., which may also be a larval host. In southern Germany, Liston has also found adult M. albipuncta on G. sanguineum .

Only a single specimen of M. albipuncta was previously known from the Edinburgh area ( Liston 1981a). Until recently all observations (for example by Benson 1952, Taeger et al. 1998 and Lacourt 1999) indicated M. albipuncta to be monophagous on G. sylvaticum L., but it seems likely that various Geranium species are used as hosts. Grearson (2007) found M. albipuncta on G. pratense in Wiltshire and Collins (2009) suspected that this is the host in some Surrey localities where M. albipuncta occurs but the mainly northern and upland G. sylvaticum is absent. Grearson knows of three M. albipuncta populations in Wiltshire and Gloucestershire where G. pratense is definitely the only or main host.