Privet Sawfly Macrophya punctumalbum
At first sight the Privet Sawfly is very similar to the Large Rose Sawfly. It is blackish, except for the abdomen, which is yellowish orange. The difference is clear however looking at the legs. The Large Rose Sawfly has black legs entirely, or black legs with tiny yellow patches. The legs of the Privet Sawfly are all colourful: reddish with some small black rings. The life cycle of both species is also rather identical, even though the Privet Sawfly usually flies a bit later (May-July). The Privet Sawfly also never appears in great numbers. And the larvae of the Privet Sawfly are found on bramble and not on roses, of course.
The adults of all sawflies eat pollen and nectar from flowers. In these pictures a nice example of that. The two tiny beetles in some of the pictures are probably Varied Carpet Beetles (Anthrenus verbasci), belonging to the family of beetles called the Skin Beetles (Dermestidae).
