Leaf-mine: The larva starts making a corridor of a few mm, followed, and mostly overrun, by a circular blotch of 4-5 mm diameter (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Generally several larvae feed in a single leaf, creating a distinctive pattern of feeding windows. The larvae then cut out circular cases and drop to the leaf-litter to continue feeding, leaving behind a leaf containing many circular or oval cut-outs (UKMoths).

The mine is also illustrated in British leafminers.

Larva: The larva is illustrated in British leafminers and Bladmineerders van Europa.

Pupa: Details unknown.

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. The ovipositor comb of pectinea is illustrated in British leafminers alongside oehmanniella and masculella.

Hosts in Britain:

Hosts elsewhere:

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

Time of year - adults: Flying in April and May (UKMoths).

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Widely distributed throughout much of the British Isles, (UKMoths) including Banff, Caernarvonshire, Derbyshire, East Cornwall, East Kent, East Norfolk, East Ross, East Suffolk, East Sutherland, Easterness, Elgin, Flintshire, Glamorgan, Herefordshire, Kincardine, North Aberdeen, North Devon, North Essex, North Wiltshire, Shropshire, South Aberdeen, South Devon, South Hampshire, South Wiltshire, South-west Yorkshire, Stafford, Warwickshire, West Gloucestershire, West Norfolk, West Suffolk 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).

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, Belarus, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Danish mainland, Estonia, Finland, French mainland, Germany, Hungary, Italian mainland, Kaliningrad Region, Latvia, Lithuania, ? Luxembourg, Macedonia, Norwegian mainland, Poland, Romania, Russia - Central, East, North and Northwest, Slovakia, Spanish mainland, 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.