Leaf-miner: Initially a lower epidermal gallery leading to a grey or whitish
blotch which contorts the leaf strongly. Then at least two folds
on the leaf margin, consuming the upper epidermis (British
leafminers).
The
mine starts as a lower-surface epidermal corridor, that becomes
widened into a blotch. The end result is a small, strongly inflated,
tentiform mine between two side veins. The leaf tissue is eaten
away up to the upper epidermis. The lower epidermis is opaque, mottled
greyish, and strongly folded. Finally the mine is vacated and the
larva continues under a leaf tip of margin that has been folded
downwards; at least two of such folds are made and eaten out from
the inside (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).
Larva grey with black rings on legs (British
leafminers).
The
larva is illustrated in UKMoths
and Bladmineerders van Europa).
Pupa: The pupae of moths have visible head appendages, wings and legs which lie in sheaths (see examples).
Pupation in a cocoon in folded leaf-margin (British
leafminers).
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: June-July, August-October (British
leafminers).
Time
of year - adults: There are two generations, flying in May and
again in August (UKMoths).
Distribution
in Great Britain and Ireland: Southern half of England and
Wales, ranging northwards to York (UKMoths).
including Anglesey, Bedfordshire, Breconshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Carmarthenshire, Cheshire, Denbighshire, Dorset, Durham, East Cornwall, East Gloucestershire,
East Kent, East Norfolk, East Suffolk, Glamorgan, Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Isle of Wight, Leicestershire, Middlesex,
Montgomeryshire, North Devon, North Essex, North Hampshire, North Somerset, Pembrokeshire, Shropshire, South Devon, South-west Yorkshire, Stafford, Surrey, West Gloucestershire, West Norfolk and West Suffolk (NBN
Atlas) and the Channel Is. (Fauna Europaea).
See also British
leafminers distribution map.
Distribution
elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Austria,
Belarus, Belgium, Czech Republic, Danish mainland, Finland, French
mainland, Greek mainland, Hungary, Italian mainland, Luxembourg,
Republic of Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia - Central, Northwest
and South, Sardinia, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands
and Ukraine. Also recorded in Near East (Fauna Europaea).
NBN Atlas links to known host species:
British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:
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