It has come to our attention that we used the term “scopa” incorrectly throughout our revision of north-west Palaearctic Pristiphora species (Prous et al. 2017, p. 12 et seq.), and in the associated electronic identification key available at figshare (http://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.5235805). The term is in frequent use for assemblages of stiff hairs, on the legs or abdominal sterna, used for transporting pollen in bees (Huber and Sharkey 1993). Our intention, in sawflies, was to denote an invagination or concavity at the tip of the sawsheath (e.g. Figs 75, 104–107, 111, 115, 121 in Prous et al. 2017) that distinguishes such sawsheaths from unmodified ones (e.g. Figs 98–99 in Prous et al. 2017), or from those having a “carina” (e.g. Figs 66–69 in Prous et al. 2017). The meaning of “scopa” (from Latin “broom”) in the context of Symphyta, consistent with most recent literature, is a paired, latero-posteriorly projecting structure at the tip of the sawsheath (Ross 1937: 76, Smith 1988: 229, 1992: 4). The “scopa” of sawflies sometimes bears a clearly defined setose area, often conspicuous in Diprionidae, termed “scopal pad” by Ross (1955) and Smith (1988). A potential source of further confusion is the use by some authors of “scopa” for the scopal pad alone (e.g. Hara and Shinohara 2015). In future, it might be preferable to restrict the use of the word scopa to the bees, and refer to the respective structures of sawfly sawsheaths as “latero-posterior projections” and “setose fields”.