Tuesday 15 April 2014

Phytomyza flavicornis

Popped the water trap out again today and caught a rather attractive agromyzid fly, keying to Phytomyza flavicornis.  The Agromyzidae spend their larval life as miners or borers of plant tissue, pupating in the plant or in the ground nearby.  The flavicornis refers to the yellow (flavus) antennae (corne).  This species combines yellow coloration on the legs, top of head, sides of thorax and antennae along with darkened top of thorax and scutellum.  The larvae feed on the stems of stinging nettles and the adults emerge quite early in the year.  There didn't seem to be a definitive image of the species on the net so I thought I would put one here.  The specimen is a male. It is taken in water (thus a few spots due to the lighting) and made into a composite image of 15 photographs using Zerene Stacker software.




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