Woodlands Historic Park Flies

Male Spear Thistle Gall Fly (Urophora stylata) Woodlands Historic Park
Male Spear Thistle Gall Fly next to a Spear Thistle Flower Head, late Nov.
Spear Thistle Gall Flies Mating at Woodlands Historic Park
Spear Thistle Gall Flies Mating, late Nov. The female's elongated abdomen is definately not typical for flies in this family.

This fly was introduced to Australia for biological control of Spear Thistle.

Classification

from Australian Faunal Directory

Order Diptera - Flies, 8955 named species in Australia at Nov. 2021
Division Cyclorrhapha - Flies having Short Antennae with a Bristle or Arista
Family Tephritidae - Fruit Flies, 293 named species in Australia
Genus Urophora
Species Urophora stylata