Liriomyza leafminer

The adults are principally yellow and black in color. The shiny black mesonotum of Liriomyza sativae is used to distinguish this fly from the closely related American serpentine leafminer,Liriomyza trifolii which has a grayish black mesonotum. Also, the black hind margin of the eyes serves to distinguish this insect from Liriomyza trifolii, which has eyes with yellow hind margins. Females are larger and more robust than males, and have an elongated abdomen. The wing length of this species is 1.25 to 1.7 mm, with the males averaging about 1.3 mm and the females about 1.5 mm. The small size of these flies serves to distinguish them from pea leafminer, Liriomyza huidobrensis(Blanchard), which has a wing length of 1.7 to 2.25 mm. The yellow femora of vegetable leafminer also help to distinguish these species, as the femora of pea leafminer are dark. Flies normally live only about a month. Flies are uncommon during the cool months of the year, but often attain high, damaging levels by mid-summer. In warm climates they may breed continuously, with many overlapping generations per year.