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Leaf-miner: The larva mines downwards and forms an irregular mine with a silken tube in the centre, which is mixed with frass (British leafminers).

Mine transparent (therefore conspicuous), generally descending from the leaf tip. Over the entire length of the mine stretches a central silken tube, in which the larva can retreat and can move quickly up or down. The tube also contains the frass. The larva feeds laterally from the tube, which makes the sides of the mine very irregular (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Larva: The larvae of moths have a head capsule and chewing mouthparts with opposable mandibles (see video of a gracillarid larva feeding), six thoracic legs and abdominal legs (see examples).

The larva is illustrated in British leafminers, UKMoths and Bladmineerders van Europa.

Pupa: The pupae of moths have visible head appendages, wings and legs which lie in sheaths (see examples).

Adult: The adult is illustrated in UKMoths by John Walters. The species is included in mothdissection.co.uk.

Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:

Poaceae
Brachypodium				UKMoths
Brachypodium	sylvaticum	False Brome		British leafminers
Brachypodium	sylvaticum	False Brome		Pitkin & Plant
Dactylis				UKMoths
Dactylis	glomerata	Cock's-foot		British leafminers
Dactylis	glomerata	Cock's-foot		Pitkin & Plant
Holcus				British leafminers
Holcus				Pitkin & Plant
Holcus				UKMoths

Hosts elsewhere:

Poaceae
Brachypodium	pinnatum	Heath False-brome		Bladmineerders van Europa
Brachypodium	sylvaticum	False Brome		Belgian Lepidoptera
Brachypodium	sylvaticum	False Brome		Bladmineerders van Europa
Dactylis				Belgian Lepidoptera
Dactylis	glomerata	Cock's-foot		Bladmineerders van Europa
Melica	nutans	Mountain Melick		Bladmineerders van Europa

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

Time of year - adults: There is a single generation, adults flying during May and June (UKMoths).

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Distributed in southern England and Wales, and also occurring in parts of northern England and Ireland (UKMoths), including Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Denbighshire, Dorset, Durham, East Kent, East Norfolk, East Suffolk, Herefordshire, Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Isle of Wight, North Devon, North Essex, North Hampshire, North Lincolnshire, North Somerset, North-east Yorkshire, Shropshire, South Wiltshire, West Kent, West Lancashire, West Norfolk, Westmorland and Worcestershire (NBN Atlas) and the Channel Is. (Fauna Europaea).

See also British leafminers distribution map.

Also recorded in the Republic of Ireland (Fauna Europaea and National Biodiversity Data Centre Map).

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Danish mainland, French mainland, Germany, Greek mainland, Hungary, Italian mainland, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Russia - Central, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland and The Netherlands (Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:

Belgian Lepidoptera
Biodiversity Heritage Library
Bladmineerders van Europa
British leafminers
Encyclopedia of Life
Fauna Europaea
NBN Atlas
NHM UK Checklist
UKMoths