Today’s species sighting dates from last year but I’ve only just worked out what it is thanks to someone posting a photo the same species in a Facebook group I’m a member of. There seems to be a Facebook group for every niche possible!
What: Holly Leaf Miner Phytomyza ilicis Curtis, 1846
When: 13th November 2019 (although it is still there today)
Where: My garden, Poynton, Cheshire. UK
Who saw it: Me
How did I record it? On iRecord.
Is it larger than a blackbird? No, definitely not!
What is it? A tiny fly who’s larvae live inside holly leaves. They make distinctive yellow and red blotches on the leaves. They are pretty common, most holly I’ve seen recently has them.
A fact I have learned about this species: All the facts about this one are new to me, I only knew about the species last week! But, according to Wikipedia the fly has been studied in food web studies as the larvae are frequently parasitised or eaten by birds such as Blue Tits.
Is it charismatic in my opinion? Probably not, I’ve just looked at a picture of an adult fly (who don’t live in the mines but lay their eggs in holly leaves) and they look like a standard house-fly type fly. There are better looking leaf galls such as the Robin’s Pin-cushion.
A Species a Day 
This appears to be a type of insect gall! Very interesting.
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It is indeed, they are really common on Ilex aquifolium, I saw a whole bunch more on a walk today. The flies themselves are pretty average looking to be honest!
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