Leaf-mine: Larva makes a large whitish blotch and mines the leaf downwards. The frass tends to be deposited in the upper part of the mine (British leafminers).

Oviposition usually not far from the leaf tip. From there descends an irregular blotch mine. Hering (1957a) describes the mine as flat and quite shallow, giving it a greenish, rather than whitish appearance. Frass initially in the oldest, upper part of the mine, later in strings. The larva can leave its mine and restart elsewhere. Normally only one larva per mine, but sometimes two or even three mines in a leaf. Pupation outside the mine (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Larva: Yellowish green, head and pronotum pale brown; see Steuer (1987a) for a detailed description (Bladmineerders van Europa). The larva is illustrated in British leafminers.

Pupa: Anchored externally on the foodplant by a silken girdle (UKMoths). The pupa is illustrated in British leafminers.

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

Comments: Festuca pratensis is treated as Schedonorus pratensis (Meadow Fescue) by Stace (2010).

Hosts in Britain:

Hosts elsewhere:

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

Time of year - adults: Between May and August in one or two broods depending on latitude (UKMoths).

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Occurring widely in England and southern Scotland, this species is relatively common in damp habitats such as river and canal banks and marshes (UKMoths) including Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Caernarvonshire, Cambridgeshire, Cheshire, Cheviotland, Denbighshire, Derbyshire, East Kent, East Norfolk, East Suffolk, Flintshire, Glamorgan, Huntingdonshire, Kincardine, Middlesex, North Essex, North Hampshire, North Somerset, North Wiltshire, Shropshire, South Essex, South Lancaster, South Wiltshire, Stafford, Surrey, Warwickshire, West Cornwall, West Norfolk, West Suffolk, Westmorland and Worcestershire (NBN 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). See also British leafminers distribution map.

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, European Turkey, Finland, French mainland, Germany, Hungary, Italian mainland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Norwegian mainland, Poland, Romania, Russia - Central, East and North, 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.