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On 16 June I found a whitish blotch mine in a Lapsana communis leaf near my house here in Ipswich. The mine extended along the mid-rib with offshoots into the leaf blade. I kept the leaf in a plastic bag until on 26 June a fly emerged. A yellow/brown puparium was found in the bag afterwards. The small black fly was compared with Kenneth Spencer's Agromyzidae key. The sub-costa coalesces with R1 before reaching costa, there are 2 pairs of dorsocentral bristles, the fly is uniformly black with no facial keel. It can't be Hexamyza which causes galls which indicates that it is Ophiomyia. Turning to the Ophiomyia key: no obvious facial keel, costa extends to M1+2, orbital setulae both proclinate and reclinate, conspicuously long, proclinate above, a few in front reclinate. I measured the wing of my specimen as about 2 mm (cf 2.5mm in the key). I think that this is Ophiomyia cunctata. No records for this species in Suffolk are currrently on NBN Gateway, though Spencer 1972 reports an observation in Newmarket (J E Collin). I suspect that this another case of under-reporting. Nipplewort is a very common weed, and around here at least many of their leaves have been mined.

I would very much appreciate confirmation or correction of my identification.

Best wishes.
Martin

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back

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side

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wing

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profile

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mine

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puparium

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Image extracted form Agromyzidae of Fennoscandia to compare with orbital setulae of "my" fly...

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orbital setulae of my specimen to compare...

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Hi Martin,
I've only been recording Agromyzids for a couple of years and don't know this species, but I am very impressed with your analysis.
I don't see what more you could have done. I only deal with males for the most part but I wouldn't be at all surprised if a European expert agrees with your assessment.
John

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Thanks John.

As a relative newcomer, I'm surprised there aren't more Agromyzidae experts around. They are easy to find, including by collecting mined leaves, etc and in the UK at least there is the key in RES Handbook Vol 10 Part 5g. Diptera, Section (g) Agromyzidae by Kenneth A. Spencer, free to download from http://www.royens...-handbooks.

Regards,
Martin

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OK, this is Ophiomyia cunctata (Hendel, 1920).

Miloš

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Yippee! Thanks Miloš.