Bug Wiki
Sticker of Carbonifera goldenrod gall midge
Bug card No. 0791 of 4,939

Carbonifera goldenrod gall midge

Asteromyia carbonifera

This tiny fly is a gall midge that lives on goldenrod plants. Its babies grow inside a little blister on the leaf called a gall. To make it, the mother teams up with a fungus.

Lives in
North America, on goldenrod plants
Top speed
about 8 km/h (5 mph)
Flying, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It does not bite or sting.
What does it eat?
Its larvae grow inside a gall that a fungus makes on goldenrod leaves.
For real!Photo of Carbonifera goldenrod gall midge
Picture by Beatriz Moisset. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

A female can lay up to 300 eggs at a time.

2

The mother collects tiny bits of a fungus and leaves them on the plant together with her eggs.

3

The fungus grows into the gall where the larvae live, so the fly and the fungus help each other.

you asked

Most asked questions about Carbonifera goldenrod gall midge

?What is a gall midge?

A tiny fly whose larvae live inside a gall, a little bump or blister that grows on a plant.

?Where does this gall midge live?

On goldenrod plants, where its larvae grow inside galls on the leaves.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Asteromyia carbonifera
Group
Flies and mosquitoes
Family
Cecidomyiidae
Classification
Insecta > Diptera > Cecidomyiidae
Lives on
North America

Where the facts come from

  1. Asteromyia carbonifera (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by Beatriz Moisset. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

Bug Wiki honey jar For grown-ups: Bug Wiki is free, with no ads and no tracking. A small tip helps keep it online.Leave a tip

More from the same group: Flies and mosquitoes

Also at home here: Gardens and meadows

Honey jarfor grown-ups