Leaf-mine: A small Phyllonorycter-like mine initially, but with brown rather than green lower epidermis. Later in one or more successive cones formed by folding downwards the edge or tip of a leaf (British leafminers).

The mine begins as an inconspicuous lower surface corridor, mainly recognisable by its brown line of frass. In the next larval stage a lower-surface blotch is made, that soon develops into a tentiform mine; its epidermis turns brown. Frass in a clump in a corner of the mine. After leaving the mine the larva continues feeding in a downwards folded leaf margin, that is fixed with silk (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Larva: The larva is illustrated in Bladmineerders van Europa.

Parornix betulae larva, lateral Image: Willem Ellis (Bladmineerders van Europa)

Pupa: In folded leaf-edge (British leafminers).

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

Hosts in Britain:

Hosts elsewhere:

Time of year - larvae: June, September-October (British leafminers) and are commonest on birch seedlings (UKMoths).

Time of year - adults: The adults fly in May and August (UKMoths).

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Common throughout the British Isles, in heaths and open woodland (UKMoths) including Anglesey, Banff, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Caernarvonshire, Cambridgeshire, Cheshire, Denbighshire, Derbyshire, East Cornwall, East Kent, East Norfolk, East Suffolk, Glamorgan, Herefordshire, Huntingdonshire, Merionethshire, Monmouthshire, North Essex, North Hampshire, North Somerset, Northumberland South, Shropshire, South Aberdeen, South Devon, South Hampshire, South Lancaster, South Wiltshire, South-west Yorkshire, Stafford, Surrey, Warwickshire, 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) and Northern Ireland (Karsholt and van Nieukerken in Fauna Europaea). See also British leafminers distribution map.

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, Finland, French mainland, Germany, Hungary, Italian mainland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norwegian mainland, Poland, Romania, Russia - Central, East, North, Northwest and South, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands and Ukraine, Also recorded in East Palaearctic (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.