Phytomyza flavicornis Fallén

Guglya, Yuliia, 2025, Rearing mining flies (Diptera: Agromyzidae) from host plants as an instrument for associating females with males, with the description of two new species. Report 2, Zootaxa 5658 (1), pp. 1-86 : 39

Phytomyza flavicornis Fallén

( Figs. 78–80 , 266–271 )

Material examined. Ukraine: Vinnytsa Region: near Chechelnyk , Vyshenka location, 48°10'N, 29°20'E, 1.vii.2019, Yu. Guglya (1♂); Kharkiv Region: near Petrivske, 49°10’N, 36°58’E, 24.iv.2018 —puparia inside the stem mine collected, summer 2018—imago, Yu. Guglya, ex Urtica dioica (1♀ 6 puparia); same locality, 10.v.2021, Yu. Guglya (3♂ 3♀); near Rubizhne, 50°07'N, 36°46'E, 2.v.2021 —puparium inside the stem mine collected, Yu. Guglya, ex Urtica dioica (1 puparium) .

Hosts. Urticacea: Urtica L. ( Benavent-Corai et al. 2005).

Mine. The larva feeds as an internal stem borer. Pupation takes place inside the stem.

Puparium. ( Figs. 78–80 ) Yellow, transparent, glossy, 3.8 mm long, with distinct segmentation; surface quite smooth. Posterior spiracles set on stout separate conical protuberances with 36 fine sessile bulbs in a double circular configuration. Anal plate distinctly protruding posteriorly viewed from the side.

Cephalopharingeal skeleton. ( Fig. 269 ) Mouthhooks equal in size, which appearing bilobate with one long stout tooth dorsally. Mouthhooks, intermediate sclerite and dorsal cornu are strongly sclerotized, ventral cornu much less so. Intermediate sclerite straight; dramatically tapering apically in anterior half. Ventral cornu bears distinct “closed” window posteriorly. Indentation index 84.

Female head. ( Figs. 266, 267 ) Mostly bright yellow, with ocellar tubercle and vertex black; i vt s and o vt s on black ground; 1 st fl with thick pale, elongated pubescence; fronto-orbital plate distinctly visible laterally; fronto-orbital plate and parafacial extremely wide; 2 ors, 2 ori, ori a very short; lunule low, broad, flattened dorsally, reaching the level between ori a and ori p; gena and parafacial together equal to the maximum vertical height of eye.

Wing. ( Fig. 268 ) Yellowish, with pale veins; costa ending after R 3+4; second cross vein absent; calypter yellow, margin and fringe darker. Wing length 3.0 mm.

Thorax viewed from the side. ( Fig. 268 ) Mostly yellow, with kepst in ventral half, mr ventro-posteriorly and ktg posteriorly black; anepst ventrally and anepm medially with greyish patches. Legs yellow.

Female genitalia. ( Figs. 270, 271 ) Spermathecae small, 0.06× as high as anterior part of oviscape. Spermathecae equal in size, pale brown, spherical. Spermathecal duct narrow and very weakly sclerotized. Ventral receptacle brown, S-shaped, with weakly sclerotized tail. Body of receptacle spherical, with acutely curved basal connecting tube, strongly sclerotized. Opening small, located on tapering projection, 0.41× as wide as a diameter of spherical part of the body.

Distribution. A Holarctic species, recorded from 23 European countries, the United States and Canada ( Papp & Černý, 2019). Ukraine (first record).

Figures

FIGURES 78–84. Figures 78–80: Phytomyza flavicornis Fallén; 78: empty puparium viewed from the side; 79: posterior segments of puparium (posterior view); 80: posterior spiracles (posterior view). Figures 81–84: Phytomyza pubicornis Hendel; 81: mine in Aegopodium podagraria leaf; 82: puparium viewed from the side; 83: posterior segments of puparium (posterior view); 84: posterior spiracles (posterior view).

FIGURES 266–271. Phytomyza flavicornis Fallén; 266: frontal view of head; 267: head viewed from the side; 268: total fly except abdomen viewed from the side; 269: cephalopharingeal skeleton; 270: oviscape, ventral receptacle and spermathecae proportionally; 271 a, b: spermathecae and ventral receptacle proportionally; a: spermatheca; b: ventral receptacle.