Bug FAQCommon Green-Tenthredo
Tenthredo mesomela · Order: Hymenoptera · Family: Tenthredinidae
Also called: Common Green Sawfly
The common green-tenthredo is a small sawfly about 10 to 15 mm long with a yellow-to-apple-green body and a black head, thorax and abdomen top. Adults appear from May to July, feeding on small insects and flower nectar, while the larvae eat the leaves of buttercup and Persicaria at night.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Its body is yellow-green, but the head, thorax and the upper abdomen are black; the pronotum and scutellum stay yellow.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
It grows to about 10 to 15 mm (0.39 to 0.59 in) in length.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
You can find it in meadows, along roadsides and at forest edges across most of Europe.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Larvae feed at night on the leaves of buttercup (Ranunculus) and Persicaria species.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Adults are present from May through July, after which they lay eggs that hatch into night-feeding larvae.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
You will see the adults mainly between May and July.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
It is native to most of Europe, where it lives in open grassy and edge habitats.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
It can be confused with Rhogogaster sawflies, but those have green wing spots and differently placed eyes.
Source: Wikipedia
More photos
Questions people ask
What does the common green-tenthredo look like?
It is a small sawfly about 10 to 15 mm long, yellow-green overall with a black head, thorax and upper abdomen, and yellow pronotum and scutellum.
Source: Wikipedia
Where can I find this sawfly?
It lives in meadows, roadsides and forest edges throughout most of Europe.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Tenthredinidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenthredo_mesomela
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.