''Atherigona soccata'', the sorghum shoot fly, is a species of

fly Flies are insects of the Order (biology), order Diptera, the name being derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwing ...

in the family Muscidae whose larvae feed on the central growing shoots of

millet Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most species generally referred to as millets belong to the tribe Paniceae, but some millets al ...

crops like

sorghum ''Sorghum'' () is a genus of about 25 species of flowering plants in the grass family (Poaceae). Some of these species are grown as cereals for human consumption and some in pastures for animals. One species is grown for grain, while many othe ...

and

finger millet ''Eleusine coracana'', or finger millet, also known as ragi in India, kodo in Nepal, is an annual herbaceous plant widely grown as a cereal crop in the arid and semiarid areas in Africa and Asia. It is a tetraploid and self-pollinating species p ...

, as well as

maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...

, where they can cause serious loss of yield across

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

and

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

. Sorghum is grown mainly in Africa and Asia with some areas also in southern

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. The adult fly lays eggs on the underside of the leaf of the host plant. A female may lay about 75 eggs. The eggs hatch in a week and the larva moves to the central whorl and feeds on the growing tip, resulting in the plant failing to grow. The larvae pupate after about 17 days and adults may emerge after another 11 days under warm conditions. Many efforts have been made to breed crop varieties that are resistant to shoot fly attack. Altering the season of planting can also be effective under some conditions as the flies only attack young seedlings. The adults can be monitored using bait consisting of fish-meal (with fish oil), brewer's yeast and ammonium sulphide. Attempts have also been made to augment natural predators and parasites to manage or reduce damage to crops.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q13855479 Muscidae Insect pests of millets Sorghum diseases