Delia platura (Meigen, 1826)

seedcorn maggot

polyphagous

Delia platura: cephalic skeleton of 3rd instar larva

cephalic skeleton of 3rd instar larva (from Dušek)

Delia platura: puparium

puparium

mine

The larva primarily lives as a borer in the stem and petioles, but is able to make corridor-like excursions into the blade. Perhaps the mine can be distinguished from those of Botanophila fugax in that Delia mines contain several larvae, Botanophila mines just one. Neither mines nor larvae can be distinguished from those of D. florilega.

host plants

Dicotyledons, polyphagous

Asparagus; Brassica; Cucumis sativa; Spinacia oleracea.

phenology

Larvae in May-June and September (Hering, 1957a).

BENELUX

BE recorded (Gosseries & Ackland, 1991a).

NE recorded (de Meijere, 1939a).

LUX not recorded (Fauna Europaea, 2007).

distribution within Europe

Entire Europe (Fauna Europaea, 2007).

synonyms

Chortophila, Phorbia platura; Delia cilicrura (Rondani, 1866); D. fusciceps (Zetterstesdt, 1845).

larva

egg, larva, puparium

are described in much detail by Dušek (1969a) and Savage ao. The cephaiic skeleton of Phorbia cilicrura that is depicted by Sol is rather different.

references

Anagnou–Veroniki, Papaioannou–Souliotis, Karanstasi & Giannopolitis (2008a) , Beuk, Prijs & de Jong (2002a), Corbet (2004a), Dušek (1969a), Gosseries & Ackland (1991a), Hering (1957a), Kabos (1975a), de Meijere (1939a), Robbins (1991a), Savage, Fortier, Fournier & Bellavance (2016a), Sol (1974a), Teschner (1999a).