Leaf-mine: The larva mining the leaves initially and then living inside a rolled leaf in later instars (UKMoths).

The mine starts with an unconspicuous epidermal corridor, mainly visible by a reddish brown frass line. During the following larval stage a blotch is formed, that quickly develops into a tentiform mine; the epidermis is brown. Generally the mine is lower-surface, but upper-surface mines are not rare. Frass in a mass of grains in a corner of the mine. After having left its mine the larva moves twice. First it lives in a rolled (sometimes just folded) leaf margin, after that in a leaf that is transverely rolled downwards, starting from the leaf tip (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Larva: Whitish with pale brown head; pronotum without black spots (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Pupa: Pupation in a white, strongly shining, parchment-like cocoon that is fixed with silk to the leaf margin (Bladmineerders van Europa).

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, July (British leafminers).

Time of year - adults: Two generations. June and July and then September and October. The second brood overwinters as an adult and often reappears in the early spring (UKMoths).

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Britain and Northern Ireland (Karsholt and van Nieukerken in Fauna Europaea) including Leicester (Pickworth Woods) (UKMoths); Bedfordshire, Caernarvonshire, Cheshire, Denbighshire, East Kent, East Norfolk, East Ross, East Suffolk, East Sutherland, Easterness,
Elgin, Glamorgan, Herefordshire, Kincardine, Merionethshire, North Aberdeen, North Devon, North Essex, North Hampshire, North Somerset, Northumberland South, Nottinghamshire, Shropshire, South Aberdeen, South Devon, South Hampshire, South Lancaster, South Wiltshire, South-west Yorkshire, Stafford, Surrey, Warwickshire, West Gloucestershire, West Kent, West Norfolk, West Ross, West Suffolk, Westmorland 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 recorded in the Republic of Ireland (Karsholt and van Nieukerken in Fauna Europaea).

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, Belgium, Czech Republic, Danish mainland, Estonia, Finland, French mainland, Germany, Latvia, Norwegian mainland, Poland, Russia - Central, North and Northwest, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland and The Netherlands (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: Unknown.