Aneugmenus fuerstenbergensis

Sometimes (e.g. in Benson¹) transcribed as Aneugmenus fürstenbergensis. Niu & Wei (2013)² argued that this species should be placed in the genus Atoposelandria but Liston, Jacobs & Prous (2015)³ disagreed.

¹ Benson R B (1952) Hymenoptera, Symphyta. Handbooks for the Identification of British Insects 6(2b). Royal Entomological Society, 51-137.

² Niu, Gengyun & Wei, Meicai. (2013). Review of Aneugmenus Hartig (Hymenoptera: Tenthredinidae) with description of a new species from China and a key to world species (excluding Neotropical). Entomotaxonomia. 2013. 221-232.

³ Liston A, Jacobs H & Prous M (2015) The Sawflies of Crete (Hymenoptera, Symphyta). Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift 62(1): 65-79

These were swept from Garlic Mustard but if I remember rightly there was Bracken growing through it, so given that Aneugmenus feed on Bracken, they probably actually come off that - in any case there was certainly Bracken growing very nearby. They were keyed using Wright to get them to genus and Benson to get them to species. Given that this is a relatively scarce species (I wasn't sure if it had been recorded in Norfolk before) I double-checked in Lacourt.

For most members of this genus males are rare, but in this species males are seen about as much as females. So assuming I got it to genus correctly, the fact that these were both males provides a clue to its likely identity. However I identified them as fuerstenbergensis on account of their head and tergite sculpture, absence of an inner tooth on the claws and more-or-less right-angled mandibles. I haven't been able to find any reference that shows the penis valve for this species, but I have found those for some of the other Aneugmenus - these differ significantly from this - perhaps even more so than I would expect of species in the same genus. That made me wonder if I'd gone wrong getting them to subfamily and/or genus, but if so I can't see where, and it's surely then too much of a coincidence that the insects are so precisely a match for Aneugmenus fuerstenbergensis.

Thanks to Andy Musgrove for reviewing these images and confirming the ID, and for confirming that they are indeed the first to be recorded in Norfolk.

male Aneugmenus fuerstenbergensis showing head (from above and behind), mandibles, hind claw, theorax, wings (left and right), abdomen (3 photos), genital capsule and penis valve (2 photos), Bintree Wood (Norfolk, UK), 20th May 2026

second male Aneugmenus fuerstenbergensis showing head, mandibles, hind claw and abdomen, Bintree Wood (Norfolk, UK), 20th May 2026