The previous major publication on Agromyzidae of economic importance dates from 1973 (Spencer, 1973). Kenneth Spencer, who deceased in 2002, was clearly the most important agromyzid expert of the twentieth century. Much of the information published in his excellent book on Agromyzidae of economic importance as well as in his many other papers and books is included in this CD-ROM.
However, since 1973 the distribution and pest status of several species changed considerably, much further ecological and applied research was done. Among others on Agromyza frontella, some tropical Ophiomyia and some major pest species in the genus Liriomyza. Also some advances in agromyzid systematics have been made. These recent developments are outlined on this CD-ROM; as far as new findings have been published, new biological information and recent references are provided for each species.
A CD-ROM allows the publication of plenty of pictures within the limits of a relatively small budget. Therefore, in order to illustrate characters of the male genitalia and other structures, I present numerous new digital pictures as well as older literature drawings (see Methods used). I hope, the host plant list and the identification system IdentifyIt will facilitate the identification of major pest species (see also the notes below and the Introduction in the IdentifyIt Guide module.