Stem
and flower feeder: In the spring the larvae feed in the stems
and flowers (UKMoths).
Small,
transparent, irregularly shaped full depth mines, less than a square
cm, often several in a leaf. Frass granular, little or missing.
Afrer some time the larvae leave the mines and continue feeding
freely at the leaf underside or under a folded leaf margin (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
with purple longitudinal lines (Bladmineerders van Europa).
Pupa: The pupae of moths have visible head appendages, wings and legs which lie in sheaths (see examples).
The cocoon on a leaf and the pupa are illustrated
in UKMoths.
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:
July - November; a spring generation that occurs in March - April
bores in the stalks of the inflorescence (Bladmineerders van Europa).
Time
of year - adults: Two generations, one in May and June, and
a second in the autumn. Adults are regularly attracted to light
(UKMoths).
Distribution
in Great Britain and Ireland: Widespread and fairly common
in open, grassy habitats and waste ground in Britain (UKMoths)
including Anglesey, Banffshire, Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Breconshire, Caernarvonshire, Caithness, Cambridgeshire,
Cardiganshire, Carmarthenshire, Cumberland, Denbighshire, Derbyshire,
Durham, East Cornwall, East Kent, East Norfolk,
East Suffolk, East Sutherland, Easterness, Flintshire, Glamorgan,
Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Mid-west Yorkshire, Middlesex, Monmouthshire, North Aberdeenshire, North Hampshire, North Northumberland, North Somerset, North-east Yorkshire, Northamptonshire, Outer Hebrides, Pembrokeshire, Shropshire, South Devon, South Lancashire, South Northumberland, South Somerset, South-east Yorkshire, South-west Yorkshire, Stafford, Surrey, Warwickshire, West Cornwall, West Gloucestershire,
West Kent, West Norfolk, West Perthshire, West Suffolk, Westmorland, Wigtownshire, Worcestershire and Shetland (NBN
Atlas).
Also
recorded in the Republic of Ireland (Fauna Europaea and National Biodiversity Data Centre Map).
Distribution
elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Austria,
Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Danish mainland, Estonia,
Finland, French mainland, Germany, Greek mainland, Hungary, Italian
mainland, Kaliningrad Region, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Norwegian
mainland, Poland, Romania, Russia - Central, East, Northwest and
South, Sardinia, Sicily, Slovakia, Slovenia, 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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