Neosilba perezi
Neosilba perezi is known as the Cassava shoot fly.
N. perezi is apparently restricted to the Americas, with specimens recorded from South, Central and southern North America It is believed that N. perezi was introduced in Florida about 1960 as a result of intense Cuban immigration to Miami, thereby providing major losses to cassava production in the region.
Unlike the other species of this genus which are polyphagous, its larvae feed exclusively on shoots of cassava Manihot esculenta. Females lay their eggs among the apical leaves of the shoots, or in small cavities made with the ovipositor; the larvae tunnel through the soft tissues of the plants and injure their terminal buds, which can retard normal plant growth and induce lateral budding
Despite the widespread distribution of N. perezi in the Neotropical region, the damage caused by its larvae to cassava crops is apparently restricted to stem production and does not impair root yield