Leaf-miner: The
larva mining the leaves initially and then living inside a rolled
leaf in later instars (UKMoths).
The
mine starts with an unconspicuous epidermal corridor, mainly visible
by a reddish brown frass line. During the following larval stage
a blotch is formed, that quickly develops into a tentiform mine;
the epidermis is brown. Generally the mine is lower-surface, but
upper-surface mines are not rare. Frass in a mass of grains in a
corner of the mine. After having left its mine the larva moves twice.
First it lives in a rolled (sometimes just folded) leaf margin,
after that in a leaf that is transverely rolled downwards, starting
from the leaf tip (Bladmineerders van Europa).
Larva: The larvae of moths have a head capsule and chewing mouthparts with opposable mandibles (see video of a gracillarid larva feeding), six thoracic legs and abdominal legs (see examples).
Whitish with pale brown head; pronotum without black spots (Bladmineerders van Europa).
Pupa: The pupae of moths have visible head appendages, wings and legs which lie in sheaths (see examples).
Pupation in a white, strongly shining, parchment-like cocoon that
is fixed with silk to the leaf margin (Bladmineerders van Europa).
Adult:
The adult is illustrated in UKMoths and the Encyclopedia
of Life. The species is included in mothdissection.co.uk.
Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:
Hosts
elsewhere:
Time
of year - larvae: May, July (British
leafminers).
Time
of year - adults: Two generations. June and July and then September
and October. The second brood overwinters as an adult and often
reappears in the early spring (UKMoths).
Distribution
in Great Britain and Ireland: Britain including Leicester (Pickworth Woods) (UKMoths);
Bedfordshire, Breconshire, Buckinghamshire, Caernarvonshire, Cambridgeshire, Carmarthenshire, Cheshire, Denbighshire, Dorset, Dumfriesshire, Dunbartonshire, Durham, East Cornwall, East Kent,
East Norfolk, East Ross, East Suffolk, East Sutherland, Easterness,
Elgin, Glamorgan, Haddington, Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Kincardineshire, Kirkudbrightshire, Linlithgow, Merionethshire, Middlesex, North Aberdeenshire, North Devon, North Essex, North Hampshire, North Northumberland, North Somerset,
Nottinghamshire, Outer Hebrides, Pembrokeshire, Shropshire, South Aberdeenshire,
South Devon, South Northumberland, South Somerset, South Wiltshire,
South-west Yorkshire, Stafford, Stirlingshire, Surrey, Warwickshire, West Gloucestershire,
West Kent, West Lancashire, West Norfolk, West Perthshire, West Ross, West Suffolk, Westmorland, Wigtowwnshire and
Worcestershire (NBN
Atlas). See also British
leafminers distribution map.
Also
recorded in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland
(Fauna Europaea and National Biodiversity Data Centre Map).
Distribution
elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Austria,
Belgium, Czech Republic, Danish mainland, Estonia, Finland, French
mainland, Germany, Latvia, Norwegian mainland, Poland, Russia -
Central, North and Northwest, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland and
The Netherlands (Fauna Europaea).
NBN Atlas links to known host species:
British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:
Chalcidoidea |
|
Sympiesis dolichogaster Ashmead, 1888 |
Eulophidae: Eulophinae |
Ichneumonoidea - Links to species no longer available |
|
Apanteles xanthostigma (Haliday, 1834) |
Braconidae: Microgastrinae |
Dolichogenidea dilecta (Haliday, 1834) |
Braconidae: Microgastrinae |
Rhysipolis decorator (Haliday, 1836) |
Braconidae: Rhysipolinae |
Rhysipolis meditator (Haliday, 1836) |
Braconidae: Rhysipolinae |
Diadegma stigmatellae Horstmann, 1980 |
Ichneumonidae: Campopleginae |
Bathythrix prominens (Strobl 1901) |
Ichneumonidae: Cryptinae |
Diaglyptidea conformis (Gmelin, 1790) |
Ichneumonidae: Cryptinae |
Gelis areator (Panzer, 1804) |
Ichneumonidae: Cryptinae |
Gelis fuscicornis (Retzius, 1783) |
Ichneumonidae: Cryptinae |
Itoplectis aterrima Jussila, 1965 |
Ichneumonidae: Pimplinae |
Scambus inanis (Schrank, 1802) |
Ichneumonidae: Pimplinae |
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