Botanophila seneciella | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Diptera |
Family: | Anthomyiidae |
Genus: | Botanophila |
Species: | B. seneciella
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Binomial name | |
Botanophila seneciella (Meade, 1892)[1]
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Synonyms | |
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Botanophila seneciella, the ragwort seed fly or ragwort seed head fly, is a fly species in the family Anthomyiidae.
Larvae feed within seed heads of Jacobaea vulgaris (the tansy ragwort), often destroying all of the developing seeds.[4] It is also found feeding on Senecio vulgaris (the groundsel).
These flies originated in France.[5] Together with the cinnabar moth (Tyria jacobaeae) and the tansy ragwort flea beetle (Longitarsus jacobaeae), the ragwort seed fly can be used for the biological control of the tansy ragwort.[2] It has been approved and released for Senecio control in California, Australia and elsewhere.