Empria takeuchii Prous and Heidemaa, 2011

Bourke, Joanna, 2024, Taxonomic Notes and New Distribution and Host Plant Records for Sawflies and Woodwasps (Hymenoptera, Symphyta) of Japan IX, Bulletin of the National Museum of Nature and Science. Series A, Zoology 50 (1), pp. 19-32 : 27

Empria takeuchii Prous and Heidemaa, 2011

Japanese name: Tsutsuji-mado-habachi

( Fig. 5)

Material examined. HONSHU: Tochigi Pref.: 1 ˂, Nakagawa, Wami , 36°46'N 140°10'E, coll. larva on Rhododendron kaempferi var. kaempferi 9. VI. 2022, mat. 14. VI., em. 30. III. 2023, S. Ibuki .

Host plant. Ericaceae : Rhododendron molle (Blume) G.Don subsp. japonicum (A.Gray) K.Kron. ( Shinohara et al., 2015), R. kaempferi Planch. var. kaempferi (new record).

Remarks. The female specimen examined agrees with the holotype of E. takeuchii except that it has partly blackish trochanters and troch- antelli. The lancet of this specimen ( Fig. 5) is almost identical with that of the holotype (fig. 19 in Prous et al., 2011). Rhododendron molle subsp. japonicum was recorded as a host plant of this species in Hokkaido ( Shinohara et al., 2015) and R. kaempferi Planch. var. kaempferi is newly recorded here as a host plant in Honshu. Empria takeuchii is likely to feed also on other Rhododendron species.