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Leaf-miner: The larva mining the leaves initially and then living inside a rolled leaf in later instars (UKMoths).

The mine starts with an unconspicuous epidermal corridor, mainly visible by a reddish brown frass line. During the following larval stage a blotch is formed, that quickly develops into a tentiform mine; the epidermis is brown. Generally the mine is lower-surface, but upper-surface mines are not rare. Frass in a mass of grains in a corner of the mine. After having left its mine the larva moves twice. First it lives in a rolled (sometimes just folded) leaf margin, after that in a leaf that is transverely rolled downwards, starting from the leaf tip (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).

Whitish with pale brown head; pronotum without black spots (Bladmineerders van Europa).

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

Pupation in a white, strongly shining, parchment-like cocoon that is fixed with silk to the leaf margin (Bladmineerders van Europa).

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:

Betulaceae
Betula	pendula	Silver Birch		Belgian Lepidoptera
Betula	pendula	Silver Birch		Bladmineerders van Europa
Betula	pubecens	Downy Birch		Belgian Lepidoptera
Betula	pubecens	Downy Birch		Bladmineerders van Europa

Time of year - larvae: May, July (British leafminers).

Time of year - adults: Two generations. June and July and then September and October. The second brood overwinters as an adult and often reappears in the early spring (UKMoths).

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Britain including Leicester (Pickworth Woods) (UKMoths); Bedfordshire, Breconshire, Buckinghamshire, Caernarvonshire, Cambridgeshire, Carmarthenshire, Cheshire, Denbighshire, Dorset, Dumfriesshire, Dunbartonshire, Durham, East Cornwall, East Kent, East Norfolk, East Ross, East Suffolk, East Sutherland, Easterness, Elgin, Glamorgan, Haddington, Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Kincardineshire, Kirkudbrightshire, Linlithgow, Merionethshire, Middlesex, North Aberdeenshire, North Devon, North Essex, North Hampshire, North Northumberland, North Somerset, Nottinghamshire, Outer Hebrides, Pembrokeshire, Shropshire, South Aberdeenshire, South Devon, South Northumberland, South Somerset, South Wiltshire, South-west Yorkshire, Stafford, Stirlingshire, Surrey, Warwickshire, West Gloucestershire, West Kent, West Lancashire, West Norfolk, West Perthshire, West Ross, West Suffolk, Westmorland, Wigtowwnshire and Worcestershire (NBN Atlas). See also British leafminers distribution map.

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 Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Danish mainland, Estonia, Finland, French mainland, Germany, Latvia, Norwegian mainland, Poland, Russia - Central, North and Northwest, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland and The Netherlands (Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:

Belgian Lepidoptera
Biodiversity Heritage Library
Bladmineerders van Europa
British leafminers
Encyclopedia of Life
Fauna Europaea
NBN Atlas
NHM UK Checklist
UKMoths