Hebe plant leaf-miner fly galls

Description:

These galls were spotted on a hebe plant, and it was the only plant affected in a very large area. Some of the galls appeared to be this year's, but there were many more, older ones, in the very same plant. After some research, I concluded that the insect responsible for these galls, belongs to the Agromyzidae family. Of the 41 species discovered in NZ, 34 are endemic; it is considered that these have evolved from 17 immigrant ancestors which reached New Zealand by long-distance dispersal from Australia in 16 cases while one group of three species appears to be of South American origin. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.10... http://rsnz.natlib.govt.nz/volume/rsnz_8...