Bug FAQCelery Fly
Euleia heraclei · Order: Diptera · Family: Tephritidae
Source: Wikipedia
The celery fly is a small 5 to 7 mm fly that shows seasonal colour differences, with orange-brown bodies in summer and dark bodies in winter, blue-green eyes and brown-banded wings. It lives in vegetable gardens and open countryside across most of Europe, parts of Asia, North Africa and the Middle East, where its larvae mine the leaves of many Apiaceae plants, especially celery and parsnips.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Adults have blue-green eyes, a raised rib on the face, whitish stripes on the mesonotum, a black postscutellum, yellow-brown legs and wide wings with brown bands; the body colour changes from orange-brown in summer to almost black in winter.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Body length ranges from 5 to 7 mm (0.20 to 0.28 in).
Source: Wikipedia
Is it a pest in the house?
They are pests of celery and parsnip, damaging the plants by mining the leaves.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
They are found mainly in vegetable gardens and open countryside where host plants grow.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Larvae feed on the leaves of many Apiaceae species, such as celery, parsnip, hogweed and carrot relatives.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
The fly has two generations per year (bivoltine). Eggs hatch in 6 to 8 days; larvae mine leaves, then drop to the soil at 4 to 5 cm depth, and the second generation overwinters about 10 cm deep.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Adults are present from April through November.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
The species occurs throughout most of Europe, the eastern Palearctic, Central Asia, Japan, North Africa and the Middle East.
Source: Wikipedia
More photos
Questions people ask
Where is the celery fly found?
It is widespread across Europe, parts of Asia, North Africa and the Middle East.
Source: Wikipedia
How many generations does the celery fly have each year?
It produces two generations per year.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Tephritidae)
Goldenrod Gall FlyEurosta solidaginis
Thistle Stem Gall FlyUrophora cardui
Goldenrod Brussels Sprout Gall FlyProcecidochares atra
Mediterranean Fruit FlyCeratitis capitataDamages trees, gardens or crops
Cotton-gall TephritidAciurina bigeloviae
Oriental Fruit FlyBactrocera dorsalisDamages trees, gardens or cropsSources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euleia_heraclei
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-23.