Leaf-miner: The
mine begins with a narrow gallery following the midrib or a vein,
and then becoming a rectangular blotch with frass gathered towards
one end (UKMoths).
Oviposition
on the upperside of the leaf, next to a vein. The first part of
the mine is a narrow corridor, with a broad frass line, running
along a vein. Usually the corridor runs away from the midrib, but
often it runs along the midrib itself. The corridor widens abruptly
into a squarish blotch, containing much frass. Often several mines
in a leaf. Pupation external (Bladmineerders van Europa).
The
mine is also illustrated in Belgian Lepidoptera.
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).
White with green gut-line, head pale brown (British
leafminers). The larva is yellowish white with a light brown hread; ganglia inconspicuous; ventral plates present but indistinct (van Nieukerken, 1985a). See Gustafsson and van Nieukerken (1990a) for a description of the larva (Bladmineerders van Europa).
Pupa: The pupae of moths have visible head appendages, wings and legs which lie in sheaths (see examples).
Adult:
The adult is illustrated in UKMoths.
The species is included in mothdissection.co.uk.
Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:
Hosts
elsewhere:
Time
of year - larvae: August - October (British
leafminers).
Time
of year - adults: The adult moths are on the wing in June (UKMoths).
Distribution
in Great Britain and Ireland: Distributed throughout England
and Wales and into the southern half of Scotland, it is more localised
in the north, but can be common elsewhere (UKMoths)
including Anglesey, Bedfordshire, Breconshire, Buckinghamshire, Caernarvonshire, Cambridgeshire,
Cheshire, Denbighshire, Derbyshire, Dumfriesshire, Dunbartonshire, Durham, East Cornwall, East Gloucester, East Kent, East Norfolk, East Ross, East Suffolk, East Sutherland, Elgin, Glamorgan, Herefordshire,
Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Isle of Wight, Kincardineshire, Leicestershire, Merionethshire, Mid-west Yorkshire, Middlesex, Montgomeryshire, North Aberdeenshire,
North Devon, North Hampshire, North Northumberland, North Somerset, North Wiltshire, Pembrokeshire, Shropshire, South Aberdeenshire, South Devon, South Wiltshire, South Northumberland, South-west Yorkshire, Stafford, Surrey, Warwickshire,
West Cornwall, West Gloucestershire, West Lancashire, West Norfolk, West Ross, West Suffolk,
Westmorland and Worcestershire (NBN
Atlas).
See also British
leafminers distribution map.
Also
recorded in the Republic of Ireland (Fauna Europaea and National Biodiversity Data Centre Map).
Distribution
elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Austria,
Belgium, ? Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic,
Danish mainland, Estonia, Finland, French mainland, Germany, Greek
mainland, Hungary, Italian mainland, Latvia, Lithuania, ? Macedonia,
Norwegian mainland, Poland, Portuguese mainland, Romania, Russia
- Central and South, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spanish mainland, Sweden,
Switzerland, The Netherlands and Ukraine (Fauna Europaea).
NBN Atlas links to known host species:
British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:
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