Cabbage root fly

Taxobox
name = Cabbage root fly

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image_caption = "Delia radicum"
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Arthropoda
classis = Insecta
subclassis = Pterygota
infraclassis = Neoptera
superordo = Endopterygota|
ordo = Diptera
subordo = Brachycera
infraordo = Muscomorpha
zoosectio = Schizophora
zoosubsectio = Calyptratae
superfamilia = Muscoidea
familia = Anthomyiidae
subfamilia = Anthomyiinae
tribus = Hydrophoriini
genus = "Delia"
species = "D. radicum"
species_authority = (Linnaeus, 1758)
binomial = "Delia radicum"
synonyms = *"Musca radicum" Linnaeus, 1758
*"Anthomyia brassicae" Wiedemann, 1817
*"Chortophila floccosa" Macquart, 1835
*"Chortophila frontalis " Macquart, 1835
*"Aricia villipes" Zetterstedt, 1845
*"Chortophila appendiculata" Bigot, 1885
*"Anthomyia detergens " Pandellé, 1900
*"Anthomyia stimulea " Pandellé, 1900 [cite book|author=Soos, A.; Papp, L. (Eds.)|year=1986|title=Catalogue of Palaearctic Diptera. Vol. 13, Anthomyiidae - Tachinidae|pages=624 pp|publisher=Hungarian Natural History Museum |language=English|isbn=6937093214]

The Cabbage Fly, "Delia radicum", also known as the Cabbage Root Fly, Root Fly or Turnip Fly, is a known pest to crops [cite web|url=http://www.gardenaction.co.uk/techniques/pests/cabbage-root-fly.htm |title=Cabbage Root Fly |accessdate=2007-10-18 |last=Marks |first=David |work=Garden Action ] . The larvae of the cabbage root fly are sometimes known as the cabbage maggot or root maggot. The adult flies are approximately 1 cm long and are grey in colour but otherwise resemble the common house fly. [cite web
url=http://www.abdn.ac.uk/organic/organic_21.php
title=Cabbage Root Fly
publisher=www.abdn.ac.uk
accessdate=2008-04-04
last=
first=]

The flies can be found all over Europe.cite web
url=http://www.pan-uk.org/Projects/Local/alt~dir/cabbagerootfly.htm
title=Cabbage Root Fly
publisher=www.pan-uk.org
accessdate=2008-04-04
last=
first=] After over-wintering as pupae in the soil, the flies hatch in spring, feed on nectar and lay eggs close to plants of the genus "Brassica". The eggs are white and about 1 milimetre in diameter. They hatch into white maggots after about six days and the larvae feed for about three weeks on the roots and stems of the cabbage plants. After this, the larvae are typically 0.9 to 1 cm in length and form reddish brown pupae which hatch into adult flies after around 20 days. Around three generations of eggs can be laid in each year, with the generations overlapping, providing a constant presence of adult flies throughout the summer months.

References