Leaf-mine: Egg is laid beneath the epidermis on the upper leaf surface. Larva mines in basal leaves. Pupation internal (Spencer, 1976: 74).

Little branched corridors, radiating from the leaf base, often deep in the plant tissue. The larva can migrate from one leaf to the other through the petioles. Frass concentrated in the lowest, basal part of the mine; there also the pupation takes place (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Larva: The larva is described by de Meijere (1925), Süss (1971) and Dempewolf (2001). Posterior spiracles on distinct stalks, each with an ellipse of 9-11 bulbs (Spencer, 1976: 74 (fig. 94)).

Puparium: Pale whitish-yellow; posterior spiracles on distinct stalks, each with an ellipse of 9-11 bulbs (Spencer, 1976: 74 (fig. 94)).

Comments: A serious pest of cultivated chicory in Belgium and The Netherlands frquently introduced into Britain. The mining activity is detectable from the reddish discolouration of the white leaves (Spencer, 1972: 25).

Hosts in Britain:

Hosts elsewhere:

Time of year - mines: Larval feeding in the first generation can last from 18-25 days but this is reduced later in the summer.

Time of year - adults: Unknown.

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Uncommon, but widespread. Devon (Lyme Regis), Dunbarton (Cardross), London, Cambridge (Cambridge, on chicory introduced from Belgium or the Netherlands) (Spencer, 1972: 25) and Warwickshire (Robbins, 1991: 124).

NBN Grid map:

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Spain, Italy, [fomer] Yugoslavia (Spencer, 1976: 73-4), The Netherlands (Bladmineerders van Europa), Belgium (de Bruyn and von Tschirnhaus, 1991), Germany (Spencer, 1976: 452; Dempewolf, 2001: 77), Austria, Czech Republic, European Turkey, French mainland, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Yugoslavia (Martinez in Fauna Europaea).

Range extending eastwards to Tadzhik S.S.R and Uzbek S.S.R. (Spencer, 1976: 73-4).

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

Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere: