Leaf-mine: Larvae feeding primarily along mid-rib, forming short lateral mines into the leaf blade. Pupation within the mid-rib. the corridors are short in Dipsacus, but longer in Knautia and Succisa. (Spencer, 1976: 480).

The larvae essentially is a borer in the midrib, but makes from there narrow corridors into the blade. In the end also a corridor can be made on top of the midrib. Most frass is deposited within the midrib, to a lesser extent also in the corridors, at the point where they leave the midrib (Hering, 1957, 1967a). Pupation in the mine, generally in the basal part of the tunnel in the midrib, just below the upper epidermis (Bladmineerders van Europa).

The larva feeds along the midrib, making short corridors into the leaf (British leafminers).

Larva: The winter is passed as a young larva in the basal rosette of leaves and it starts feeding again in early spring (Spencer, 1976: 480). The larva is also described by de Meijere (1926 and 1928).

Puparium: White (Spencer, 1976: 480).

Hosts in Britain:

Hosts elsewhere:

Time of year - mines: March-April, June-October.

Time of year - adults: There are at least two generations per year.

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Widespread in Britain including Perth (Killin) (Spencer, 1972: 95, as nigritella), the Inner Hebrides (Isle of Coll) (Bland, 1992); Cambridgeshire, East Norfolk, East Suffolk, East Sussex, North Somerset, South Wiltshire, Surrey, West Norfolk and West Suffolk (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, Finland, Norway, Sweden (Spencer, 1976: 480), The Netherlands (Bladmineerders van Europa), Germany (Spencer, 1976: 578), Belarus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, French mainland, Italian mainland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Spanish mainland and Switzerland (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: