Matthias and Ron, Thank you both for all the information, Ted

for the clarification.

Ron, I keep looking at the not so subtle change from black front half to white abdomen with some black dots and clear wings. I just can't find a leaf miner that fits. On the other hand, frit fly Photo#114757 does seem to fit assuming of course that its ID is correct. Any further thoughts on how to make a positive ID? Thanks, Ted

Let's hope Keith Bayless has a look at this; I think he's the one who set me straight on the differences in the two.

At the genus level, I don't believe body color is too important, so I'd tend to ignore the black/white thing.

Checking wing veins often helps, but doesn't seem to work here.

The stripes on the thorax of yours look more like a frit fly's.

Sometimes, behavior and/or posture provide clues. For instance, an ovipositing leaf miner has a very distinctive look, but I think you have a male here. From looking at images here and remembering flies in the field, I'd guess that the frit fly is more inclined to perch on the edge of a leaf - like yours - while the miner is more likely to be in the middle of it.

Wish I knew more about these guys. While I'm no expert, I have posted a ton of flies and examined many posts of others.