Leaf-miner:
A small narrow mine on a wide variety of grasses. In the spring
the larva changes leaves and mines tip downwards. The mine fills
the leaf width. The frass is packed in the top of the mine (British
leafminers).
In
autumn the larva makes a narrow corridor a few cm in length, in
which it hibernates. In March it moves to a new leaf. Here a transparent,
full depth mine is made that descends from the leaf tip, and occupies
the entire width of the blade. Most frass is concentrated in the
oldest, highest, part of the mine. The larva may leave its mine
and restart elsewhere. Pupation outside the mine (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).
Grey green with a faint white dorsal line. Head pale brown; prothoracic
shield brown, consisting of 4+4 small plates (Bland, 1996a) (Bladmineerders van Europa). The larva is illustrated in British
leafminers.
Pupa: The pupae of moths have visible head appendages, wings and legs which lie in sheaths (see examples).
The pupa is illustrated in British
leafminers.
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: Autumn - Spring (British
leafminers).
Time
of year - adults: The adults are on the wing mostly in June
and July, and fly from evening onwards, being attracted to light
after darkness (UKMoths).
Distribution
in Great Britain and Ireland: Common throughout Britain (UKMoths)
including Anglesey, Banffshire, Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Breconshire, Buckinghamshire,
Caernarvonshire, Cambridgeshire, Carmarthenshire, Cheshire, Cumberland, Denbighshire, Derbyshire, East Cornwall, East Norfolk, East Ross, East Suffolk, Easterness, Elgin, Fife, Glamorgan,
Haddington, Herefordshire, Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Isle of Wight, Kincardineshire, Leicestershire, Merionethshire, Mid-west Yorkshire, Middlesex,
Monmouthshire, Montgomeryshire, North Aberdeenshire, North Ebudes, North Essex, North Northumberland,
North Somerset, North Wiltshire, Nottinghamshire, Pembrokeshire, Radnorshire, Roxburgh, Shropshire,
South Aberdeenshire, South Northumberland, South-east Yorkshire, South-west Yorkshire, Stafford, Surrey, Stirlingshire, West Cornwall, West Gloucestershire,
West Lancashire, West Norfolk, West Suffolk, Westmorland, Wigtownshire and Shetland
(NBN
Atlas), the Channel Is. (Fauna Europaea).
See also British
leafminers distribution map. It occurs in grassy habitats (UKMoths).
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, Croatia, Czech Republic, Danish mainland, Estonia, Finland,
French mainland, Germany, Hungary, Italian mainland, Latvia, Liechtenstein,
Lithuania, Luxembourg, Norwegian mainland, Poland, Portuguese mainland,
Romania, Russia - Central, Slovakia, Spanish mainland, Sweden, Switzerland,
The Netherlands and Yugoslavia (Fauna Europaea).
NBN Atlas links to known host species:
Anisantha
sterilis, Brachypodium
pinnatum, Brachypodium
sylvaticum, Bromopsis
erecta,
Calamagrostis epigejos, Dactylis
glomerata, Deschampsia
cespitosa, Elymus
repens, Festuca
ovina, Festuca
rubra, Festuca
trachyphylla, Avenula
pratensis, Avenula
pubescens, Holcus
lanatus, Holcus
mollis, Koeleria
macrantha, Leymus
arenarius, Phalaris
arundinacea, Poa
pratensis
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British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:
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