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Photo#388609
small fly on bracken fern - Chirosia

small fly on bracken fern - Chirosia
Morse Wildlife Preserve, Pierce County, Washington, USA
April 23, 2010
Smaller than a house fly.

Images of this individual: tag all
small fly on bracken fern - Chirosia small fly on bracken fern - Chirosia - female

Two Chirosia spp. associated with bracken, that I know of...
I've reared Chirosia flavipennis from bracken leaf mines, but that species is strictly eastern, apparently.
Chirosia idahensis has been reared just once, from a puparium collected in a “coiled leaf tip” of bracken fern in Oregon. It occurs from BC to ID, south to CA.

 
Maybe
A distinctive feature of both sexes of Chirosia idahensis is supposed to be the shape of the head, with face strongly receding compared to other species (vibrissae behind rather than almost directly below antennae). I have a hard time matching illustrations with photos. The face is a little receding... but is it enough to match?

Moved
Moved from Root-Maggot Flies.

Moved
Moved from Muscoidea.

 
Root-Maggot Fly
Thanks John.

 
Was it laying eggs?
Larvae of Chirosia develop in ferns, but there seems to be more than one species of fern in the world and I have no idea which might be plausible hosts.

 
Sorry
I don't remember, and can't tell from the photos.

Big bristles
Those large bristles extending out over the eyes may be distinctive.

Moved
Moved from Flies.

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