Four-barred knapweed gall fly
The four-barred knapweed gall fly is a small fly from the fruit fly family. Its babies grow up inside the flowers of a plant called knapweed. Because of this, people use it as a helper to stop knapweed from spreading where it is a pesky weed.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
People brought it to North America and Australia on purpose, to fight a weed called spotted knapweed.
Using an animal to keep a weed in check, instead of spraying poison, is called biological control.
Like all flies, it has only two wings, not four like bees and butterflies.
Most asked questions about Four-barred knapweed gall fly
?Why do people release knapweed gall flies?
Its babies grow inside knapweed flowers, so it helps keep the weed called spotted knapweed from spreading.
?Is the four-barred knapweed gall fly dangerous?
No. It is a small fly that does not bite or sting.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Urophora quadrifasciata
- Group
- Flies and mosquitoes
- Family
- Tephritidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Diptera > Tephritidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, Australia and Oceania
Where the facts come from
- Urophora quadrifasciata (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Judy Gallagher. CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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