Published April 30, 2026 | Version v1
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The sawflies (Hymenoptera, Tenthredinidae) of Greenland

  • 1. Museum of Natural History, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia|Ecology and Genetics Research Unit, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
  • 2. Biofokus, Oslo, Norway
  • 3. Senckenberg Deutsches Entomologisches Institut, Müncheberg, Germany

Description

The sawfly fauna of Greenland is reviewed, based on specimens collected in 2025 and a re-examination of material in museum collections. Ametastegia pallipes (Spinola, 1808) and Euura vaga (Fabricius, 1781) are recorded from Greenland for the first time. Pristiphora laricis (Hartig, 1837) is confirmed to be well established in a restricted area of South Greenland. Euura obscuripes (Holmgren, 1883) is the valid name for the nominal taxa described from Greenland as Nematus borealis Marlatt, 1892 (new synonym) and Amauronematus groenlandicus Malaise, 1933 (new synonym). Greenlandic specimens of Euura cornuta (Lindqvist, 1962) have formerly been misidentified as Amauronematus viduatus (Zetterstedt, 1838) or A. nitidipleuris Malaise, 1931. Now including a total of only nine recorded species, the sawfly fauna is extremely species-poor, thus fitting the general pattern exhibited by most groups of insects in Greenland. Genetic sequencing and existing distribution data indicate that most species are likely to have reached Greenland from the West Palaearctic. The possibility that some of them may have been accidentally introduced by humans is discussed.

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