#agromyzidae

[usgsbiml]

This is perhaps an Agromyzid fly. I am not sure, but it is tiny tiny tiny ( I used a 10X microscope lens and still have to crop the shot), which would fit their leaf mining lifestyle. Let's pretend they are Agromyzids which gives me a chance to tell you that they are very picky. Each choosing to "mine" the leaves and stems of a small number of plants. Hidden biodiversity. Thank you little plants and flies. Collected on the Beltsville Agriculture Research Station.

[marksparasites]

Observation – Phytomyza obscurella ex Aegopodium podagraria

[crudlynaturephotos]

[usgsbiml]

These are perhaps Agromyzid flies.   Not sure, but they are very tiny tiny tiny flies ( I used a 10X microscope lens and still have to crop the shots), which would fit their leaf mining lifestyle.  There appear to be 2 species in this set.  Let's pretend they are Agromyzids which gives me a chance to tell you that they are very picky.  Each choosing to "mine" the leaves and stems of a small number of plants.  Hidden biodiversity.  Thank you little plants and flies.  Collected on the proposed Maglev Trainyard site on the Beltsville Agriculture Research Station. 

[drhoz]

#2179 - Phytoliriomyza pittosporophylli - Pittosporum Leaf-gall Fly

The feeding tunnels and galls caused by a genus of Agromyzid leaf-miner fly that targets Australian Cheesewoods. There's easily 100 species in the genus, which seem to be most common or at least most commonly reported in the Northern Hemisphere, but I don't have much other informaton on them.

About 110 species of Agromyzid are agricultural pests, but the species can be so hard to tell apart that DNA barcoding is increasingly used for ID.

Mascot, Sydney, New South Wales.

[drhoz]

Agromyzid Leaf-miner Fly and an unrelated larger species, on Wattle.

Oakford, Perth

[drhoz]

#692 - Fam. Agromyzidae - Leaf-mining Fly

A tiny, metallic, humped fly from the Agromyzid family. The Leaf-mining Flies are worldwide with some 2,500 species, almost all  small, some with wing length of only 1 mm. Most species are in the range of 2 to 3 mm. The largest is a little of 6mm.

A number of species attack plants of agricultural or ornamental value, and about 10% of the species of Agromyzidae are considered pests. By their bites females of some species are able to infect plants with pathogenic fungi, or to transmit plant viruses.

Oakford, Perth