European Cherry Fruit Fly vs Spring Pygmy Firefly

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute European Cherry Fruit Fly Spring Pygmy Firefly
Scientific Name Rhagoletis cerasi Pleotomus pallens
Order Diptera Coleoptera
Family Tephritidae Lampyridae
Size 4-5 mm 5-8 mm
Habitat Orchards Underground
Diet Omnivores Omnivores
Regions Europe, Western Asia Eastern North America
Conservation Least Concern Not Evaluated

European Cherry Fruit Fly

A small black fly with distinctive wing banding that infests sweet and sour cherries. Larvae feed inside cherries, causing them to rot and drop.

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Did You Know?

It is a textbook example of sympatric speciation, with host races on sweet and sour cherries.

Spring Pygmy Firefly

A tiny, rarely seen firefly of the eastern United States with a very short adult life span. Males produce faint, sporadic greenish flashes close to the ground.

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Did You Know?

Females are wingless and larviform, and were once classified as a completely separate species from the males.