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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:

Asteraceae
Petasites	hybridus	Butterbur		Pitkin & Plant
Tussilago				UKMoths
Tussilago	farfara	Colt's-foot		Pitkin & Plant

Hosts elsewhere:

Asteraceae
Petasites	hybridus	Butterbur		Bladmineerders van Europa
Tussilago	farfara	Colt's-foot		Belgian Lepidoptera
Tussilago	farfara	Colt's-foot		Bladmineerders van Europa

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: