The Apple Mint (Mentha suaveolens) in my back garden had been mined extensively this summer. I took a few leaves on 5 July and kept them to see what emerged. On 11 July I found 8 small brown pupae on one of the leaves. These hatched into small black flies on 19 July, only 1 of which was obviously male. I photographed the leaf, the puparia and the male specimen which emerged. To my great frustration I lost the abdomen when I was detaching it to get a better look at the genitalia! These photos have been reviewed by Miloš Cerny, an Agromyzidae expert from the Czech Republic. He confirmed the species - see www.diptera.info/forum/viewthread.php?forum_id=5&thre....

There are currently no records for this species on the NBN Gateway, presumably due to under-reporting. In the Royal Entomological Handbook for the Identification of British Insects, Vol 10 Part 5g, Agromyzidae, Spencer gives its distribution as "Probably not uncommon in south".

Here are the details of this record:

Phytomyza petoei Hering, 1924 UK, East Suffolk, Ipswich Christchurch Park area: back garden TM16644502 19-July-2014 Collector: M Cooper Determiner: M Cerny