Best discovery at this weekend's yard sale day: I saw a bunch of tiny orange midges swarming around certain shrubs in people's yards. Looking closer, I saw they were molting from galls on the undersides of the leaves—often in bundles of three or four, leaving empty exuviae behind. Many were mating, presumably about to start the cycle all over again.

Just got around to looking it up. They are boxwood leaf miners, a kind of gall midge (family Cecidomyiidae). More information: https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/IN1291

#bugstodon #insects #flies #midges #parasitism #galls #Diptera #Cecidomyiidae

Some tiny gall midges with hairy wings for #Flyday.

Manitoba, Canada.

#FlydayFriday #FlyFriday #diptera #insect #Cecidomyiidae #FridayFlyday

Not a mosquito but a Cecidomyiinae, likely of the genus Lasioptera sp: a kind of gall midget or gall gnat.

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/81412856

From a lucky shot in focus back in 2021. Thanks to the #iNaturalist community for the ID. With Cecidomyiidae being a family likely more speciose than even beetles [1], the chances of identifying this animal are slim.

[1] Hebert et al. 2016 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rstb.2015.0333

#iNaturalist #Diptera #Cecidomyiidae #entomology #insects #flies #midges

Something a little different for #FlyDay! These fantastical polka dots are induced by the dogwood eyespot gall midge, _Parallelodiplosis subtruncata_. Yes, these too are flies. They don't really harm the tree.

More on this species: https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/dogwood-eyespot-gall-midge

#FlyFriday #bugstodon #insects #flies #Diptera #Cecidomyiidae

Del #paraulogic d’ahir:

cecidi
m. Hipertròfia de teixits vegetals induïda per agents físics o químics diversos, produïts generalment per paràsits, especialment per insectes i àcars especialitzats.

Una bona sorpresa a l’enllaçar-se amb una de les meves afeccions: l’entomologia—l’estudi dels insectes. Un dels grups més diversos és el #Cecidomyiidae, un grup cosí dels mosquits les larves dels quals indueixen agalls, o cecidis, a les plantes i se’n nodreixen.

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/81412856
#iNaturalist

On account of the snow and cold, #InverteFest in these parts doesn't involve making new observations on #iNaturalist.

So I've been working on some other things:

1. posting pics on social media with the hashtag (never enough photos of all the cool inverts out there!)

2. editing #Wikipedia. This morning I spent some time working on Ampelomyia. This genus of midges induces galls on grape plants:
- added all 4 species to #Wikidata
- added some basic biology and distribution data, and photos, to Wikipedia articles for 2 species

Reminder to all iNaturalist users: please consider updating the licensing of the photos you upload to iNat so they can be used in Wikipedia articles. The default setting on iNat doesn't allow for use in Wikipedia.

#Cecidomyiidae #Ampelomyia #gall #Diptera #InverteFest2022

I was surprised when this #fly emerged from a #gall induced by a #wasp in the family #Cynipidae (yes there's wasps that make #galls on plants!)

Turns out it's a fly in the family #Cecidomyiidae that can be a "successor #inquiline" in galls formed by other #insects. Essentially, some species in this group move into the galls formed by other species once the original inhabitant has moved out!

It has black scales on its abdomen and very hairy wings. This photo was taken through a microscope - the fly is only several millimeters long.

#nature is weird and wonderful!

From #Manitoba #Canada

#diptera #macrophotography #FaunaOfManitoba #NaturePhotography