Grass flies
| Grass flies | ||||||||||||
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Yellow cereal fly ( Opomyza florum ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Opomyzidae | ||||||||||||
| Fallén , 1820 | ||||||||||||
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The opomyzidae even juice fly or meadow fly , (Opomyzidae) are a family of relatively small, slender flies whose larvae in grass minieren. Many of the species have wings drawn with dots or blurred spots.
description
They are 2–5 mm long, relatively slender flies. The body is usually colored orange or black.
In the case of the feelers, the third feeler element is relatively short and stocky, and is inclined downwards from the second feeler element. Vibrissus bristles are missing. There are, however, a pair of orbital bristles (on the front edge of the eye) that point backwards. There is a small oval triangle .
The more or less slender wings are usually marked with black or darker spots, or at least the wing tips are darkened. In the Flügeladerung the long, at the wing tip approaching radii r 23 and r 45 conspicuous. r 1 is short or fused with the subcosta. The wings have two cross veins, which are often darkly cloudy.
biology
The adults can be found on dry as well as on moist meadows, as well as in the grass and herb layer in forests and in the vicinity of forests. With up to six months, they are extremely long-lived and can therefore be found at almost any time of the year.
As far as is known, the adults lay their eggs at the base of sweet grasses . The larvae eat their way into the stalks and then feed on the young leaves of the plant, the further growth of which they can bring to a standstill.
The larvae take about 30–40 days to develop. The larvae eventually leave the plant and pupate in the soil.
distribution
The family is mainly distributed in the Holarctic . Some species are found in southern and eastern Africa .
European genera
In Europe there are three genera with about 33 species. The species most common in Central Europe are also given.
supporting documents
Individual evidence
literature
- J. Haupt, H. Haupt: Flies and mosquitoes - observation, way of life. Naturbuchverlag, Augsburg 1998, ISBN 978-3-89440-278-5
- E. Brunel: Family Opomyzidae . In: Papp, L. og Darvas, B. (red.): Contributions to a Manual of Palaearctic Diptera. 3: 259-266. Science Herald, Budapest, 1998.
