208 MANUAL OF VEGETABLE-GARDEN INSECTS 



The Asparagus Miner 



Agromyza simplex Loew 

 {Agromyza maura var. simplex Loew) 



In the present state of knowledge of this group of flies, it is 

 impossible to indicate with any accuracy the geographical dis- 

 tribution of this species. There are several closely related 

 forms in the genus Agromyza considered as distinct species by 

 some authors and as varieties of Agromyza maura Meigen by 

 others. The asparagus miner belongs to this group. As the 

 habits and early stages of most of these varieties or species are 

 still unknown and as it is very difficult to distinguish them 

 from a study of the flies alone, it is at present impossible to 

 determine the actual range of this pest. In America Agromyza 

 simplex has been recorded from Massachusetts, Ontario and 

 Illinois and southward to Georgia. It also occurs in central 



California. It has been 

 reared in France and the 

 flies have been captured 

 in England and Germany. 

 What is apparently the 

 same species but deter- 

 mined as Agromyza maura 

 was reared from aspara- 

 gus in Hungary. 



The adult of the aspara- 

 gus miner (Fig. 133) is a 

 small, metallic, black, 

 two-winged fly, \ to ^ 

 inch in length and having an expanse of i to -j inch. In 

 New York the flies appear from the middle to the last of 

 May. In about a week after emerging, the female inserts 

 her eggs just under the epidermis of the asparagus stalk near 



Fig. 133. — The asparagus miner, adult 



(X8). 



