Pontania lapponicola KOPELKE , 1994

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 : 47

Pontania lapponicola KOPELKE, 1994

Burn of Fialzioch , Angus, NO2377, 3 ♀♀ 4 ♂♂ reared from galls on Salix lapponum L. collected 6.viii.1992, leg. Bland.

Allt Féith Làir, Fealar, Perths., NN9979, coll. 24.vi.1997, 1 ♂ emerged 2.iv.1998, leg. Bland.

Corrie Sharroch, NO2574, 1 ♀ 2 ♂♂ reared from galls on Salix lapponum collected 29.vii.1999, leg. Bland; floor of Corrie Sharroch, 2 pairs of very young galls on S. lapponum , 8.vi.2010, leg. Liston.

Few exact localities are recorded for Pontania lapponicola in Scotland. It is monophagous on Salix lapponum , which in the British Isles is restricted to a handful of sites in upland Scotland, where the small remaining populations have been severely affected by grazing pressure. Neither galls nor adults could be found on S. lapponum at Meall nan Tarmachan, although many bushes, most of which had been recently planted, were searched. Possibly however it was just too early (see dates of Angus records, above).

Benson (1958) treated as a single species, under the name P. dolichura (Thomson, 1871) , the three species now recognized in Britain in the P. dolichura species group: P. dolichura on Salix phylicifolia , P. nigricantis on S. myrsinifolia and P. lapponicola . See Kopelke (1994) on their taxonomy. Possibly further as yet unrecognized sawflies of this species group are present in Scotland on other Salix species. According to Benson “[galls] can be found in v-vi but are vacated before the middle or end of vii and are thus very early for a mountain species”. In fact, phenology of P. lapponicola and P. nigricantis [see below], seems to be highly dependent on topography (aspect, altitude) and the often great yearly differences in weather conditions, resulting in a wide variation in timing of emergence of adults and development of galls. The comments by Benson on phenology best fit populations of P. nigricantis found in Scotland along river valleys from near sea-level to about 400 m. Adults and mature galls of P. lapponicola , but also those of P. nigricantis occurring at sites above this altitude, are typically found several weeks later. No exact data on the occurrence or phenology of P. dolichura are available from Scotland, where this seems to be a very rare species.