---

Hello,
Two larvae get out of a leaf of Atriplex halimus growing along the mediterranean sea. They pupate in the rearing box and two males emerges.
Here is one of them:


H. Dumas : France : La Ciotat : 13600 : 30/09/2024
Altitude : NR - Taille : 4.5 mm
Réf. : 350782


H. Dumas : France : La Ciotat : 13600 : 30/09/2024
Altitude : NR - Taille : --
Réf. : 350817

I don't see the "short blunt spines on the lobes of the fifth sternite" of Delia albula.

May I have your opinion?

---

Is Delia albula a leaf miner in Atriplex?

Delia echinata larvae move through stems between leaves. Adult males have at least 2 av, 4 ad, and 3 pd on hind tibia. A few members of the Pegomya (Pegomya) hyoscami species group are leaf miners in Chenopodiaceae. Those are the only Anthomyiidae I know of that might have come out of your leaf mines. A picture of the 5th sternite might help ID.

---

I know nothing about Delia albata, except that it has been found along the Channel (Zuydcoote). The genus Delia was just proposed as a possibility on the french forum.

Here are two other pictures if they can help:
the last sternites:

H. Dumas : France : La Ciotat : 13600 : 30/09/2024
Altitude : NR - Taille : --
Réf. : 351846

the left hind tibia (front view):

H. Dumas : France : La Ciotat : 13600 : 30/09/2024
Altitude : NR - Taille : --
Réf. : 351845

---

The shape of the 5th sternite does not match Delia echinata. Some members of the Pegomya hyoscyami group have the arms incurving at the tips like your fly and I think your fly belongs to that group. I do not have a reference for European species, other than those that are also found in North America.

---

The paper by Michelsen separating the European species is online.
https://www.resea...thomyiidae

---

Many thanks for your help John!
According to Michelsen (1980), this male should belong to the group exilis/ Hyoscyami (width of interfrontal area vs ocellus; shape of abdomen and postabdomen), but I'm not able to appreciate the features of the genitalia.