Euleia heraclei

Euleia heraclei, Photo: http://www.entomart.be/contact.html

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Cladus: Protostomia
Cladus: Ecdysozoa
Cladus: Panarthropoda
Phylum: Arthropoda
Cladus: Pancrustacea
Cladus: Allotriocarida
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Classis: Insecta
Cladus: Dicondylia
Subclassis: Pterygota
Infraclassis: Neoptera
Cladus: Eumetabola
Cladus: Holometabola
Superordo: Panorpida
Cladus: Antliophora
Ordo: Diptera
Subordo: Brachycera
Infraordo: Muscomorpha
Sectio: Schizophora
Subsectio: Acalyptrata
Superfamilia: Tephritoidea

Familia: Tephritidae
Subfamilia: Trypetinae
Tribus: Trypetini
Subtribus: Trypetina
Genus: Euleia
Species: Euleia heraclei
Name

Euleia heraclei (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms

Musca heraclii Linnaeus, 1758
Musca heraclei Linnaeus, 1758
Trypeta heraclei Loew, 1844
Philophylla heraclei (L.)
Trupanea berberidis Schrank, 1803
Musca centaureae Fabricius, 1794
Euleia centauriae Foote, 1984
Forellia dauci Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830
Acinia herachlei Lioy, 1864

References

Euleia heraclei – Taxon details on Biological Library (BioLib).
Global Biodiversity Information Facility. 2019. GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset. Taxon: Euleia heraclei. [accessed on 28 June 2020]

Euleia heraclei, known as the celery fly or the hogweed picture-wing fly is a species of tephritid or fruit flies in the genus Euleia of the family Tephritidae.[2][3][4]
Distribution

This species is widespread in most of Europe (Austria, Belgium. Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, (Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Moldova, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, central European Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, and Ukraine) and in the eastern Palearctic realm, in Central Asia (Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan), and Japan. It is also present in North Africa (Algeria, Morocco) and in the Middle East (Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, Israel).[4][5]

In Britain, the species is distributed widely across southern and central England; in Wales records are mainly near the coast.[6]
Habitat

These small flies mainly inhabit vegetable gardens and open countrysides where the host plants grow.[7]
Description
Group of Euleia heraclei mating

Euleia heraclei can reach a body length of 5–7 millimetres (0.20–0.28 in). The species is dimorphic, as the color of the body is variable depending on the season. In fact the thorax and the abdomen may be shiny orange-brown or blackish.[8] They are almost black for the winter flies, while they are clear, orange-brown for the summer flies. The sides of the mesonotum have whitish longitudinal stripes. The postscutellum is black.[8] The head has blue-green eyes.[7] The face shows a raised longitudinal rib. These flies have rather wide wings heavily marked with brown bands. The legs are yellow-brown. Eggs are oval, white. Larvae are white, spindly shaped, up to 8 mm long.[9]
Video clip
Biology

Euleia heraclei is a bivoltine species, with two generations per year.[9] Adults can be found from April to November [7] feeding on hogweed (Heracleum species) (hence the specific name).[10]

The males display on the upper surfaces of leaves on sunny days during April–May. Mating takes place when a female arrives. The females' winter fly lay the eggs in April and May into the leave of the host plants, a few eggs in one leaf. After 6–8 days, the eggs hatch and the larvae mine the leaves, initially in a short corridor and later, a yellow or brown blotch.[11] After four weeks, adult larvae enter into the soil at a depth of 4–5 cm. The second generation develops in September–October and overwinters in the upper layers of soil, at a depth of about 10 cm.

Larvae feed on the leaves of a wide variety of plants, especially of Apiaceae species (Heracleum sphondylium, Angelica sylvestris, Apium graveolens, Apium nodiflorum, Conium maculatum, Heracleum sphondylium, Pastinaca sativa, Smyrnium olusatrum, Ammi species, Anthriscus cerefolium, Berula erecta, Bupleurum species, Cicuta virosa, Coriandrum sativum, Daucus carota, Eryngium campestre, Falcaria vulgaris, Heracleum mantegazzianum, Levisticum officinale, Ligusticum scoticum, etc.).[6]

They are considered a pest of celery (Apium graveolens) and parsnips (Pastinaca sativa), where they damage the plant by mining the leaves.[7]
References

Bisby F.A., Roskov Y.R., Orrell T.M., Nicolson D., Paglinawan L.E., Bailly N., Kirk P.M., Bourgoin T., Baillargeon G., Ouvrard D. Catalogue of life
" Euleia heraclei (Linnaeus, 1758)". Biolib. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
"Euleia heraclei (Linnaeus, 1758)". EU-NOMEN. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
"Euleia heraclei (Linnaeus, 1758)". Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). Retrieved 12 January 2020.
"Euleia heraclei (Linnaeus, 1758)". Fauna Europaea. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
"Grid map of records on the Gateway for Euleia heraclei". National Biodiversity Network. 2012. Retrieved May 18, 2012.
"Celery Fly". Nature Spot. 2012. Retrieved 18 May 2012.
Carroll, L.E.; I.M. White; A. Freidberg; A.L. Norrbom; M.J. Dallwitz & F.C. Thompson (2002). "Pest Fruit Flies of the World". Retrieved 16 November 2012.(Detailed description of fly, no ecology)
M.G. Krivosheina, N.A. Ozerova To the biology of celery fly Euleia heraclei (Linnaeus, 1758) (Diptera: Tephritidae) — pest of alien Apiaceae species in Moscow Region
"Euleia heraclei". Retrieved 18 May 2012.
"Euleia heraclei (Linnaeus, 1758)". UKflymines. Retrieved 19 January 2019.