Leaf-mine: The mine formed in the leaf-veins and midrib leads to an oval blotch (British leafminers). When fully fed, the larva cuts out an oval case, in which it descends to the ground and pupates (UKMoths).

The mine begins in one of the more heavy veins of a leaf. Boring in the vein the larva descends towards the midrib. Often in this process the larva moves from one thick vein to another by way of a hair-thin transverse corridor. Once in the midrib the larva descends, not rarely even for one or two cm into the petiole (one can see that by cleaving a petiole). Finally the larva returns into the leaf by way of the midrib, and makes a short, full depth, quickly widening corridor with a clear central line of frass. In the end an oval excision of made of about 2 x 5 mm, in which the larva drops to the ground (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Larva: Described by Patočka and Turčáni (2005a) (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Pupa: Details unknown.

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

Hosts in Britain:

Hosts elsewhere:

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

Time of year - adults: The adult moths fly in a single generation from late May to July, often in sunshine around alder branches (UKMoths).

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: The moth is widespread and locally common throughout England, Wales and parts of Southern Scotland (UKMoths) including Banff, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire, East Kent, East Norfolk, East Ross, East Suffolk, Glamorgan, Herefordshire, Hertfordshire, Isle Of Wight, Kincardine, Middlesex, North Devon, North Ebudes, North Essex, North Hampshire, Shropshire, South Aberdeen, South Devon, South-west Yorkshire, Stafford, Warwickshire, 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) and Northern Ireland (Karsholt and van Nieukerken in Fauna Europaea). 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, Corsica, Czech Republic, Danish mainland, Estonia, Finland, French mainland, Germany, Hungary, Kaliningrad Region, Latvia, Norwegian mainland, Poland, Romania, Russia - Central 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.