About Phytoliriomyza pittosporocaulis (Hering, 1962)
Phytoliriomyza pittosporocaulis shares several key traits with the closely similar species P. pittosporophylli. Both have a pale frons, a roughly semicircular lunule, reclinate orbital setulae, a black scutellum, pale halteres, and dorso-central bristles arranged in a 3+1 pattern. Phytoliriomyza pittosporocaulis can be told apart from P. pittosporophylli by its largely yellow third antennal segment. The larvae of P. pittosporocaulis have 4 to 6 bulbs in each posterior spiracle, while P. pittosporophylli larvae have 8 to 10 bulbs in these structures. Complete descriptions of the adult stage, larval stage, and the gall formed by the larvae of this species were originally published by Hering. Ecologically, P. pittosporocaulis larvae develop in twig galls that they form on sweet pittosporum, Pittosporum undulatum. These galls grow to a maximum diameter of 5.7 mm, and are shaped either semi-ovoid or hemispherical. Occasionally, multiple galls develop close together with overlapping edges.
