Leaf miner: The
mine begins as an inconspicuous, lower-surface, epidermal corridor.
This widens into a smallish triangular blotch, usually in the axil
of a vein; the mine is fairly transparant. Older larvae live free,
in in a lobe of the leaf that has been forced downwards and rolled
into a cone. In the course of its development the larva makes three
(rarely two) of such cones, ascending in size, on the same leaf
or not; the first is no more than a downfolded leaf margin. Pupation
in a membranaceous, yellowish cocoon at the underside of a leaf
(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).
Greenish, head lighter (Bladmineerders van Europa).
Larva initially in a small mine, but later folding the leaf and
feeding within (UKMoths).
Pupa: The pupae of moths have visible head appendages, wings and legs which lie in sheaths (see examples).
See Patocka and Zach (1995a) or Patocka and Turcáni (2005a)
for a description (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: June-July (British
leafminers).
Time
of year - adults: The moths emerge in August and overwinter,
reappearing in the following spring (UKMoths).
Distribution
in Great Britain and Ireland: The species was only discovered
in Britain in 1970, and had a scattered northern and eastern distribution,
but is now expanding its range and is fairly common in much of England,
including Bedford (Studham) and Scotland (UKMoths);
Anglesey, Ayrshire, Banffshire, Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Breconshire, Cambridgeshire, Carnarvonshire, Cheshire, Cumberland,
Denbighshire, Derbyshire, East Cornwall, East Kent, East Norfolk, East Ross,
East Suffolk, East Sutherland, Easterness, Edinburgh, Fife, Flinstshire, Glamorgan, Haddington, Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Isle of Wight, Kincardineshire, Kirkudbrightshire, Leicestershire, Linlithgow, Middlesex, North Aberdeenshire, North Hampshire, North Northumberland, North Somerset, North Wiltshire, Nottinghamshire, Outer Hebrides, Shropshire, South Aberdeenshire, South Hampshire, South Lancashire, South Northumberland, South Somerset, South Wiltshire, South-east Yorkshire, South-west Yorkshire, Stafford,
Stirlingshire, West Gloucestershire, West Kent, West Lancashire, West Norfolk,
West Suffolk, Westmorland and Worcestershire (NBN
Atlas). See also British
leafminers distribution map.
Also
recorded from the Republic of Ireland. See also Ireland's National Biodiversity Data Centre Map).
Distribution
elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Austria,
Belgium, Czech Republic, Danish mainland, French mainland, Germany,
Hungary, Italian mainland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norwegian mainland,
Poland, Romania, Russia - Central, Northwest and South, Slovakia,
Spanish mainland, Sweden, Switzerland and The Netherlands (Fauna Europaea).
NBN Atlas links to known host species:
British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:
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