Subject: Unknown insect
Geographic location of the bug: Pacific Northwest
Date: 03/18/2019
Time: 08:31 PM EDTYour letter to the bugman
Early spring: I found many of these inside the rotting stem of my artichoke plants. They’re less than 1/2 inch on length, are legless, and move a little like a caterpillar but with much less flexibility.
How you want your letter signed: a gardener
Dear Gardener,
This is most certainly the larva of a Fly, generally called a Maggot, and our best guess at this point is that it is the larva of Terellia fuscicornis, a species of Fruit Fly pictured on BugGuide that feeds on artichokes. Alas, we have not been able to locate any images of the larvae. Bug Safari has additional images of the adult Fly.
