Frit Fly vs Tachydromia Dance Fly

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Frit Fly Tachydromia Dance Fly
Scientific Name Oscinella frit Tachydromia umbrarum
Order Diptera Diptera
Family Chloropidae Hybotidae
Size 1.5-2 mm 2-3 mm
Habitat Farmland Woodlands
Diet Herbivores Predators
Regions Europe, temperate worldwide Europe
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Frit Fly

A tiny fly that is a major pest of oat crops and ryegrass. Larvae bore into plant stems causing 'dead heart'. Named from the Swedish word for grain. Multiple generations per year.

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Did You Know?

Despite being only 1.5mm long, it can destroy entire crops of oats by killing the growing shoot inside each stem.

Tachydromia Dance Fly

A tiny wingless dance fly that runs rapidly over tree bark hunting for small arthropods. Despite being flightless, it is an agile predator of mites and springtails on trunk surfaces.

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Did You Know?

It is one of the few completely wingless flies, sprinting across tree bark at high speed to catch tiny prey.