Leaf-miner: As a smaller larva it mines a leaf, but feeds on the buds of
ash in its later stages (UKMoths).
In
late autumn the larvae make an irregular small corridor with dispersed
black frass. Often the corridor widens in the end into an irregular
blotch with much less frass. The mine may begin at an egg shell
(lower picture), but the larvae can leave their mine an start a
new one elsewhere in the leaf; in that case the corridor begins
with a small round opening. Before the leaf is shed the larva leaves
the mine and bores into the bark, where it hibernates. After hibernation
they live as shoot borer, of free among spun leaves (Bladmineerders van Europa).
The
larva mines the bark of a twig and overwinters in this. In spring
it bores out the terminal shoot - causing it to droop (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).
The larva is yellowish, with a black prothoracic and anal plate
(British
leafminers). The larva is illustrated in Bladmineerders van Europa.
Pupa: The pupae of moths have visible head appendages, wings and legs which lie in sheaths (see examples).
Illustrated and described by Patočka (1997a), Patočka and Turčáni (2005a) (Bladmineerders van Europa).
Adult:
The adult is illustrated in UKMoths and the Encyclopedia
of Life. The species is included in mothdissection.co.uk.
Comments:
The species is also reported from Daphne, but is is not really
clear whether this concerns a regular relationship.
Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:
Hosts elsewhere:
Time
of year - larvae:
October - June (British
leafminers); October (Bladmineerders van Europa).
Time
of year - adults: The adult is on the wing from June to July,
although a plainer, darker form is often found into August (UKMoths).
Distribution
in Great Britain and Ireland: A common species over much of
Britain (UKMoths)
including
Anglesey, Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Breconshire, Buckinghamshire, Caernarvonshire, Cambridgeshire, Carmarthenshire,
Cumberland, Denbighshire, Derbyshire, Dorset, Dumfriesshire, Dunbartonshire, Durham, East Cornwall, East Gloucestershire,
East Norfolk, East Ross, East Suffolk, Easterness, Flintshire, Glamorgan,
Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Kincardineshire, Kirkudbrightshire, Leicestershire,
Middlesex, Monmouthshire, Montgomeryshire, North Aberdeenshire, North Devon, North Somerset,
South Northumberland, Nottinghamshire, Pembrokeshire, Radnorshire, Shropshire, South Aberdeenshire, South Devon, South Lancashire, South-east Yorkshire, South-west Yorkshire, Stafford, Surrey, Warwickshire,
West Gloucestershire, West Kent, West Lancashire,
West Norfolk,Wesdt Perthshire, West Suffolk, Westmorland, Wigtownshire, and Worcestershire (NBN
Atlas), and the Channel Is. (Fauna Europaea).
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 Albania,
Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Danish mainland,
Estonia, Finland, French mainland, Germany, Hungary, Italian mainland,
Kaliningrad Region, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg,
Norwegian mainland, Poland, Portuguese mainland, Romania, Russia
- Central, Slovakia, 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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