Monday
Aug232010
Blue Sawfly
Mon 2010-08-23 
A dark blue sawfly, probably Arge berberidis (Hymenoptera: Argidae). Although this specimen was on wild carrot (Daucus carota), the larvae of this species eat the leaves of barberry bushes (Berberis sp) which I seem to remember seeing growing somewhere in the Reading University grounds.
According to this page at the Royal Horticultural Society, A. berberidis is a recent introduction to Britain having been first noticed here in 2002.
Photos taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading, UK, on 2010-08-19.
Reader Comments