Leaf-miner / stem-borer: Very variable mine - corridor or blotch, with or without frass (Bladmineerders van Europa).

The larvae mine the leaves at first. In leeks it then bores through them and later enters the middle to feed on the inner leaves. In onion it feeds inside the leaves and can enter the bulb to feed (British leafminers).

Larva: The larva is described by Heppner (1987) and illustrated in British leafminers.

Pupa: The larva pupates in an open network cocoon, either on the foodplant or close by (UKMoths and British leafminers).

Adult: The adult is illustrated in UKMoths and the Encyclopedia of Life. The male and female genitalia are illustrated by the Lepidoptera Dissection Group.

Hosts in Britain:

Hosts elsewhere:

Time of year - larvae: May - June; August - October (British leafminers).

Time of year - adults: Two generations - June and July, and from October through the winter to early spring (UKMoths).

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Although it has the potential to be a pest, it is rather scarce and local. It is distributed mainly in the south-east of England, especially around the coast (UKMoths) including Bedfordshire, East Cornwall, East Gloucestershire, East Norfolk, East Suffolk, East Sussex, Glamorgan, North Essex, North Somerset, North Wiltshire, South Devon, South Wiltshire, Surrey,
West Gloucestershire, West Norfolk, West Suffolk 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). Also Cheltenham, East Gloucestershire (British leafminers).

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 Austria, Balearic Is., Belarus, Belgium, Corsica, Czech Republic, Danish mainland, Estonia, Finland, French mainland, Germany, Hungary, Italian mainland, Kaliningrad Region, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Norwegian mainland, Portuguese mainland, Romania, Russia - Central, North and Northwest, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Ukraine and Yugoslavia (Karsholt and van Nieukerken in Fauna Europaea).

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

Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere: