Thread subject: Diptera.info :: small black Agromyzidae
Posted by Sundew on 16-09-2015 17:09
#1
Hi,
This small, shining black fly was busy on the flowers of
Hedera helix today. I think it is a Muscid, because it behaved so self-confidently - don't laugh! Tony Irwin once described the Lonchaeids as "shy old ladies", that puts their appearance in a nutshell. Agromyzidae are also different-looking, so I stay with Muscidae. The only small black one I know is
Hydrotaea (e. g.
H. ignava). I would be grateful for confirmation or correction of this idea!
Thanks, Sundew
Edited by Sundew on 16-09-2015 21:32
Posted by Stephane Lebrun on 16-09-2015 17:39
#2
Hi Claudia,
this is not a Muscidae, not even a calyptrata. I think Agromyzidae.
Posted by Sundew on 16-09-2015 21:31
#3
Grrr... (I mean: thanks, dear Stephane!) These small black ones are vexing! However, I understand: the thorax of
Hydrotaea must have a suture, but this one hasn't, so no Calyptratae. (How could I overlook that!) The last part of the ovipositor seems to be not retractable, which would fit Agromyzidae. The black ones are
Melanagromyza and
Ophiomyia; both I should already know. The discriminating features that Milos lists in
http://www.dipter...d_id=28537 are hardly visible (is there a facial keel?), so I must leave it to him whether a genus is nameable...
Edited by Sundew on 16-09-2015 21:31
Posted by mcerny on 17-09-2015 07:35
#4
Hi Sundew,
it is
Melanagromyza sp.
Miloš
Posted by Sundew on 17-09-2015 08:21
#5
That settles the matter - thanks! Now I have to keep it in mind forever...