Leaf-mine: A white linear-blotch mine, the linear section sometimes not detectable as it becomes enveloped in later blotch (Spencer, 1976: 162-3, figs 296-7).

Upper-surface, less often lower-surface, corridor, followed, and often overrun, by a large blotch. Even when the corridor is overun, it usually remains recognisable in the frass pattern. The mine looks whitish in the field. The blotch does not contain much frass, in the form of small black grains, dispersed and stuck to the floor of the mine. Feeding punctures upper-surface (always?). Pupation outside the mine (Bladmineerders van Europa).

A common miner, forming a white linear blotch mine (the blotch may obscure the linear portion of the mine) in both native and garden plants (British leafminers).The mine is also illustrated in the Encyclopedia of Life.

Larva: The larva is described in Bladmineerders van Europa.

Puparium: Reddish brown; posterior spiracles each with 3 bulbs (Spencer, 1976: 162).

Comments: Records of flavifrons on Glechoma [Lamiaceae] (Robbins, 1991: 103; Pitkin and Plant) [Lamiaceae] are doubtful and require confirmation. In England flavifrons occurs commonly in gardens on Dianthus species (Spencer, 1976: 163).

Lychnis chalcedonica is treated as Silene chalcedonica (Maltese-Cross); Lychnis coronaria is treated as Silene coronaria (Rose Campion) and Lychnis flos-cuculi is treated as Silene flos-cuculi (Ragged-Robin) by Stace (2010).

Hosts in Britain:

Hosts elsewhere:

Time of year - mines: June-October.

Time of year - adults: July.

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Widespread but local, including Denbighshire (Cefn-y-bedd), Dunbarton (Cardross) (Spencer, 1972: 46), Warwickshire (Keresley) (Robbins, 1991: 33), Cambridgeshire, Carmarthenshire, East Sussex, Mid-west Yorkshire, Middlesex, Monmouthshire, North Lincolnshire, Shropshire, South-west Yorkshire, Stafford, West Norfolk and Worcestershire (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 and not uncommon in much of Europe including Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden (Spencer, 1976: 162), The Netherlands, Luxembourg (Bladmineerders van Europa), Belgium (de Bruyn and von Tschirnhaus, 1991), Germany (Spencer, 1976: 550), Albania, Corsica, Czech Republic, European Turkey, French mainland, Hungary, Italian mainland, Lithuania, Romania, Sardinia and Spanish mainland (Martinez in Fauna Europaea). Range extending eastwards to Kirghiz Republic of U.S.S.R. (Spencer, 1976: 162).

Also recorded in Canada (Spencer, 1976: 162).

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

Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:

Adults:

Wing of Amauromyza flavifrons