Leaf-mine: A relatively large, ribbed, oval egg is deposited near the base of the needle, on the outer, convex, side. The emerging larva at first makes a wavy, epidermal, corridor, running in the direction of the needle tip. Soon the gallery becomes deeper and fills the entire needle. The larva works itself to close to the tip of the needle; the mine behind it is almost completely filled with frass. Pupation external; the exit opening is just under the tip, in the flat side of the needle Bladmineerders van Europa.

The larva feeds internally in a needle, working its way from the base to the tip. It may then feed externally in a slight web (UKMoths).

Larva: During the mining phase the larva is orange red, but on emergence is shiny green (British leafminers). The larva is illustrated in Bladmineerders van Europa.

Cedestis gysseleniella larva, dorsal Image: from Trägårdh (1911a) (Bladmineerders van Europa)

Pupa: Pupation in a white cocoon on the ground. The pupa is initially green, then darkens as it matures (British leafminers). The pupa is illustrated in Bladmineerders van Europa.

Adult: The adult is illustrated in UKMoths and the Encyclopedia of Life. The male genitalia, but not the female genitalia (check for update), are illustrated by the Lepidoptera Dissection Group.

Hosts in Britain:

Hosts elsewhere:

Time of year - larvae: March - April (British leafminers).

Time of year - adults: The adults fly in June and July, when they can be attracted to light (UKMoths).

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: A widespread but local species occurring over much of England and Scotland in its favoured habitat, pine woodland (UKMoths), including Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, East Cornwall, East Norfolk, East Ross, East Suffolk, East Sutherland, Easterness, Elgin, Herefordshire, Kincardine, North Somerset, Shropshire, South Aberdeen, South Devon, South Lancaster, Stafford, Surrey, West Norfolk, 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).

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, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Danish mainland, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greek mainland, Hungary, Italian mainland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Norwegian mainland, Poland, Romania, Russia - Central, North and Northwest, Slovakia, Spanish mainland, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands and Ukraine (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.