Orange-horned Scabious Clubhorn Sawfly (Abia nitens)

Abia is a genus of sawflies belonging to the family Cimbicidae of which there are five species in the UK.

Four of them have similar metallic green/bronze-coloured bodies (depending on the light) two with dark antennae and two with orange antennae. This species is the only one with antennae entirely orange.

Formerly known as Abia sericea, A. nitens measures up to 12mm, is characteristically stout and has brown blotches on both wings.

The common name derives from the larvae food plants, Field Scabious and Devil's-bit Scabious.

This is probably the most common of the Abia genus and can be found throughout Britain in a variety of habitats including dry chalk and limestone grassland, wet heath, damp grassland and boggy woodland clearings, but not in huge numbers.

Adults fly from May to August and visit flowers such as umbellifers and bedstraws.