Tags
Ficaria verna, flies, fly, leaf mines, leaf mining fly, leafminer, Lesser Celandine, Phytomyza ranunculi
I was handing out the cigars last Monday!
Now, you might well think me more than a little mad to be excited about the birth of a fly but this was the first time I had tried rearing one … and it was actually successful, which bodes well for the fact that I’m intending to take part in a fly-rearing investigation this summer (more on that closer to the time).
The fly is Phytomyza ranunculi, a creature whose larvae often make their home in the leaves of Lesser celandine (Ficaria verna). I blogged about this leafminer, its larvae and the pupa here, and it is that pupa which finally hatched earlier this week. I had been told it would take about 3 weeks to hatch but it was, in fact, longer than that – it was 6 February when I found the pupa and 12 March when it hatched, so 34 days in total.
Now, here I must admit to a rookie error. As it was well over the 3 weeks, I had almost given up on its hatching so, on Monday night, when I had a sudden notion to open the container, I didn’t look inside first. The fly popped straight out, perched on the edge for a very brief time – and I managed to get just one photo, and then it flew off. I’ve searched for it in my flat, and it did a quick fly by when I was washing the dishes yesterday, but I haven’t been able to find it, neither to take more photos nor to let it outside.
theresagreen said:
Congratulations! You did well to find a pupa in the first place let alone nurture it to adulthood. Perhaps it’s just curled up somewhere warm waiting for Spring to finally arrive, like the rest of us!
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sconzani said:
Thanks, Theresa. After posting this, I opened a couple of windows on one of our warmer days and I’m hoping my little fly popped out, as I haven’t seen it since.
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susurrus said:
Oh heck! The best-laid plans…
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sconzani said:
I’m just going to have to try again … 🙂
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Val said:
I love that you reared a fly! 🙂 And it’s quite a cute fly at that!
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sconzani said:
I knew you would understand, Val. 🙂
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