Delia (genus)
| Delia | |
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| Delia radicum | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Diptera |
| Family: | Anthomyiidae |
| Subfamily: | Anthomyiinae |
| Tribe: | Hydrophoriini |
| Genus: |
Delia Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830 |
| Type species | |
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Delia floricola Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830 |
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| Synonyms | |
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The genus Delia is part of the fly family Anthomyiidae.
The genus Delia contains approximately 300–340 species worldwide (excluding Neotropical species). At present about 170 species are recorded from the Palaearctic region, and 162 species from the Nearctic region, 44 of which are Holarctic. Afrotropical fauna includes 20 Delia species. Griffiths described 49 new species in his recent revision of the Nearctic species, nearly a third of the present Nearctic total, and similar intensive revisions in other parts of the world are expected to produce many more, especially in the Middle East, mountainous regions of Central Asia, Nepal, and Mongolia.
Several important agricultural pests are Delia species, including D. radicum, the cabbage maggot, D. floralis, the turnip maggot, and D. antiqua, the onion maggot. The larvae of these flies, which tunnel into roots and stems of host plants, can cause considerable agricultural yield losses. Although most members of this genus have larvae that feed on stems, flowers, and fruits of plants, a few others have larvae that are leaf miners. The larvae of Afrotropical Delia species are mainly phytophagous, and have been found in various cereal crops and grasses, including Cynodon, Secale, Hordeum, Setaria, Pennisetum, Chloris, Sorghum, and Eleusine species.
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