| Clouded Yarrow Fly (Oxyna flavipennis (Loew, 1844)) |
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Scientific name: Oxyna flavipennis (Loew, 1844) Common name: Clouded Yarrow Fly French name: Oxyne des achillées Order: Diptera Family: Tephritidae Wingspan : 4-5 mm. Biotope: Meadows, clearings, woodland edges, road sides. The larvae grow in the collar of Common Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) inside spherical galls having the size of a pea. Geographic area: Europe, Asia east to Mongolia. Observation period : May to September. |
The diptera of the Tephritidae family are commonly called fruit flies. They have wings marked with dark stripes or blotches. The flies of the Oxyna genus have a rounded russet head with widely spaced eyes. The intraocular space is wider than three or four times the size of the eye. The legs are russet. The Clouded Yarrow Fly has golden thorax and abdomen. The thorax shows some hardly visible dark longitudinal lines. There are two pairs of dorsocentral setae. The scutellum has 4 setae, the two apical ones are shorter than the two basal ones. The wings are dark and marked with white rounded blotches. There are very few marks next to the tip of the wing so it appears with a dark uniform colour. You can also distinguish like a dark postmedian stripe across the wing. The females' abdomen tip bears a black conical-shaped ovipositor. Oxyna nebulosa has a globally darker body. There is only one pair of dorsocentral setae and only two basal setae on the scutellum. The larvae grow on Oxeye Daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare). Oxyna parietina only shows one pair of dorsocentral setae and four setae of same size on the scutellum. The larvae grow on Field Wormwood (Artemisia campestris). There is also a possible confusion with Trypetoptera punctulata of the sciomyzidae family. This last one shows well marked while blotches on the tip of the wing. |
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It seems to me that these are the leaves of Common Yarrow. As these flies are often observed on the host plant, this confirms the Clouded Yarrow Fly species (Oxyna flavipennis). The picture is not sharp enough to distinguish the setae. I still need to make progress. |
André Bon June 2013