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Leaf-miner: A long gallery, frass dispersed or linear (British leafminers).

Egg invariably at the lower surface. The mine is a full depth corridor, quite variable in length and width. Also the frass pattern is very variable: sometimes a narrow continuous line, sometimes a broad zone. Always there remains a clear zone between the frass and the side of the mine; also the frass is never coiled (Bladmineerders van Europa). The mine is also illustrated in UKMoths.

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 yellow (British leafminers). Pale yellow; described by Gustafsson and van Nieukerken (1990a) (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Pupa: The pupae of moths have visible head appendages, wings and legs which lie in sheaths (see examples).

Adult: The adult is illustrated in UKMoths by Ian Barton. The species is included in mothdissection.co.uk.

Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:

Aceraceae
Acer	pseudoplatanus	Sycamore		British leafminers
Acer	pseudoplatanus	Sycamore		Pitkin & Plant
Acer	pseudoplatanus	Sycamore		UKMoths

Hosts elsewhere:

Aceraceae
Acer	monspessulanum			Bladmineerders van Europa
Acer	obtusatum			Bladmineerders van Europa
Acer	opalus	Italian Maple		Bladmineerders van Europa
Acer	pseudoplatanus	Sycamore		Belgian Lepidoptera
Acer	pseudoplatanus	Sycamore		Bladmineerders van Europa
Acer	saccharinum	Silver Maple		Bladmineerders van Europa
Acer	sempervirens			Bladmineerders van Europa
Acer	tataricum subsp. semenovii			Bladmineerders van Europa

Time of year - larvae: July - August, September - October (British leafminers; UKMoths).

Time of year - adults: On the wing in May and August (UKMoths).

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: A species which is spreading north and west since its discovery in Hampshire in 1914. It has now extended its range to York, though it is still scarce in the north (UKMoths) including Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Carmarthenshire, Derbyshire, Dorset, East Cornwall, East Kent, East Norfolk, East Suffolk, Flintshire, Glamorgan, Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Isle of Wight, Middlesex, North Devon, North Hampshire, North Somerset, North Wiltshire, Shropshire, South Hampshire, South Wiltshire, South-west Yorkshire, Stafford, West Cornwall, West Gloucestershire, West Kent, West Lancashire, West Norfolk, West Suffolk, Westmorland, and Worcestershire (NBN Atlas).

See also British leafminers distribution map.

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Danish mainland, French mainland, Germany, Greek mainland, Hungary, Italian mainland, Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spanish mainland, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Ukraine and Yugoslavia (Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere: