Leaf-miner: Initially mines a leaf. The upper surface mine is usually adjacent to the leaf margin and gently sinuous with irregularly scattered frass (as shown, in vacated mines). Occasionally the mines may widen to form small blotches. After the leaf is mined the larva feeds, in a web, on the rosette leaves and stem. This web is made at the base of the plant, amongst the leaf litter and moss. This is the second record of this species since the mid-nineteenth in the Britain. The larva previously had not been found in the British Isles (Beavan, S.D., Heckford, R.J., Prescott, T., Watson, D. & Young, M.R. (2015), Kessleria fasciapennella (Stainton, 1849) (Lepidoptera:Yponomeutidae): discovery of the larva in Scotland and consideration of prior Scottish records of the adult, Entomologist’s Gazette 67: 23–46) (British Leafminers).
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).
Pupa: The pupae of moths have visible head appendages, wings and legs which lie in sheaths (see examples).
Adult:
The adult is not illustrated in UKMoths (check for update). The species is included in mothdissection.co.uk and
the Swedish
Natural History Museum.
Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:
Hosts
elsewhere:
Time
of year - adults: Currently unknown.
Distribution
in Great Britain and Ireland: Britain (Fauna Europaea).
Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Austria, Estonia,
Finland, ? French mainland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norwegian mainland,
Poland, Spanish mainland, Sweden and Switzerland (Fauna Europaea).
NBN Atlas links to known host species:
British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere: Currently unknown.
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