Leaf-mine: In the first instar the larva mines the leaves, forming short, irregular, blotch-like mines, but in later instars it lives externally, feeding in spun leaves and often twisting those of tender shoots (Bradley et al., 1973).

Small, full depth mine without a definite shape; little frass. Some silk is deposited in the mine. The larva soon leaves the mine and continues feeding among spun leaves (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Larva: Head light-brown or yellowish brown, edged with black postero-laterally, ocellar area blackish; prothoracic plate black edged with whitish anteriorly; abdomen dull dark green; pinacula distinct, black, sometimes brownish but with black bases to setae; anal plate large, black (Bradley et al., 1973). The overwintering larvae feed in a spinning on a range of herbaceous plants (UKMoths).

Pupa: Dull black; spines on the cremaster not bent into hooks, short, their lenght less than the distance to a ridge lying ventrad; caudal bristles only slightly thickened away from their point of origin, bent distally to form hooks (Bradley et al., 1973).

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

Comments: Ranunculus ficaria is treated as Ficaria verna (Lesser Celandine) by Stace (2010).

Hosts in Britain:

Hosts elsewhere:

Comments: On the continent it has been recorded on more than 200 host plants (Bradley et al., 1973).

Time of year - larvae: September to May and June, the young larva spinning a hibernaculm and overwintering (Bradley et al., 1973).

Time of year - adults: June and July (UKMoths; Bradley et al., 1973).

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Widespread in Britain including Anglesey, Bedfordshire, Caernarvonshire, Cambridgeshire, Cumberland, Derbyshire, Dorset, East Cornwall, East Gloucestershire, East Kent, East Norfolk, East Suffolk, Easterness, Forfar, Glamorgan, Herefordshire, Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Kincardine, Merionethshire, Mid-west Yorkshire, Middlesex, North Aberdeen, North Devon, North Essex, North Hampshire, North Somerset, North Wiltshire, Northumberland South, Radnorshire, Shropshire, South Devon, South Essex, South Hampshire, South Lancaster, South Wiltshire, Stafford, Surrey, Warwickshire, West Cornwall, West Gloucestershire, West Kent, 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). Also recorded from the Channel Is. (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 Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Crete, Croatia, Czech Republic, Danish mainland, Estonia, European Turkey, Finland, French mainland, Germany, Greek mainland, Hungary, Ireland, Italian mainland, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Norwegian mainland, Poland, Portuguese mainland, Romania, Sardinia, Sicily, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spanish mainland, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands and Ukraine (Karsholt and van Nieukerken in Fauna Europaea). Also recorded in North Africa, Asia Minor and Transcaucasia (Bradley et al., 1973).

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

Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere: Unknown.