Leaf-mine: Normally Three or four eggs laid together. The larvae form a large communal mine, feeding first up and then down the leaf. Pupation external, the puparium frequently adhering to the leaf near the end of the mine (Spencer, 1972: 38).

Three or four eggs are deposited in a row, at right angle to the leaf margin. After hatching each of the larvae makes a corridor in the direction of the leaf tip. The corridors widen, and fuse into one upper-surface blotch. Frass in comparatively large lumps. Pupuation as a rule outside the mine (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Larva: The larva is described by Griffiths (1963). Larval mandibles each with two teeth (Spencer, 1976: 114).

Rear arms of the cephalic skeleton strongly sclerotised, brown or black. Rear spiracula separated by about their diameter. The larva is described by Griffiths (1963a) and de Meijere (1925a, as nigripes); the supplementary description by de Meijere (1943a) contains mistakes. The dark rear arms of the cehalic skeleton easily separate the larvae of this species from those of A. phragmitidis, that also lives on Phragmites. However, there still is no way to distinguish the larvae of hendeli from those of the rare A. spenceri (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Puparium: Black or brown, frequently adhering to the leaf near end of mine; posterior spiracles each with 3 bulbs (Spencer, 1976: 114).

Hosts in Britain:

Hosts elsewhere:

Time of year - mines: June and August (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Time of year - adults: Unknown.

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Widespread in Britain including Cambridge (Chippenham Fen), Huntingdonshire (Woodwalton Fen), Oxford (Hogley) (Spencer, 1972: 38), Warwickshire (Binley) (Robbins, 1991: 135), Buckinghamshire, Glamorgan and Surrey (NBN Gateway - N.B. includes Watsonian Vice Counties having publicly available records that fall within or overlap the vice county border at 10km resolution or better i.e. a record for a vice county may relate to an adjacent vice county - for included datasets see NBN Grid map below).

NBN Grid map: Note that not all datasets on the NBN Gateway may be available on the map below. If you are an NBN Gateway registered user you can request access for missing datasets via the link 'Open interactive map in new window' below.

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Denmark, Sweden, Holland, Germany, Austria, N. Italy, Poland (Spencer, 1976: 114), The Netherlands (Bladmineerders van Europa), Belgium (Scheirs and de Bruyn, 1992), Czech Republic, Estonia, Poland and Slovakia (Martinez in Fauna Europaea).

NBN interactive distribution map(s) of known host species in Great Britain and Ireland and elsewhere:

Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere: Unknown.

Biodiversity Heritage Library
Bladmineerders van Europa
British leafminers
Encyclopedia of Life
Fauna Europaea [128863]
NBN Gateway