This small fly is all-orange with a shiny thorax. It usually has six black spots on the abdomen (note other Sapromyza species also have black spots). See ID guidance below.

Sapromyza opaca has a dull, not shiny, thorax

• Ocellar bristles originate within the line from front to rear ocelli
• 2 sternopleural bristles
• Abdomen with 4-6 spots
• Antennae and palps all yellow
• Top of thorax shiny

Photographs must be submitted showing key features, or evidence that the record has been confirmed by a national or local expert

Grassland

Numbers peak in August

Widely distributed in the south

10 records up to 2023. Probably under-recorded

Hackston, M. (2023). Genus Sapromyza, key to British species.
The Status of Diptera in VC55: Lauxaniidae & Platypezidae, Morris, R (2023) (LESOPS 57). Leicestershire and Rutland Entomological Society