Leaf-mine: The mine is brownish and extends along the midrib, sometimes branching (British leafminers).

Oviposition on top of the midrib. Immediately after emergence the larva gnaws a cavity in the midrib, and from there an irregular blotch is made adjacent to the midrib. The larva continues living in the midrib that is gradully hollowed out, making from there broad, brownish, full depth excursions in the blade. The mine contains much frass; most of it is concentrated in the area immediately bordering the midrib. Older, no longer occupied parts of the mine often split open. Mines mainly on the lower leaves. The slender larvae move surprisingly fast upon disturbance; when they rest (in daytime) they lie lengthwise in the hollowed midrib. Pupation outside the mine (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Larva: The larva is illustrated in Bladmineerders van Europa.

Pupa: On the ground in the leaf litter (British leafminers).

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

Comments: Records from Carlina vulgaris and Tussilago farfara are probably incidental. Reports from Cnicus benedictus and Onopordum are dubious. Records from Centaurea scabiosa and Serratula tinctoria probably refer to Scrobipalpa pauperella (Sattler, 1986a, Jansen, 1999a; Bland at al., 2002a). Seen in this light also the references to Artemisia campestris and Tanacetum vulgare (Elsner at al., 1999a) not very probable (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Hosts in Britain:

Hosts elsewhere:

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

Time of year - adults: Generally there are two generations, with adults on the wing in April to June and again in July to September (UKMoths).

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Widely distributed across much of the British Isles, this species occupies rough and open ground where thistles abound (UKMoths) including Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Caernarvonshire, Cambridgeshire, Denbighshire, East Gloucestershire, East Kent, East Norfolk, East Suffolk, Easterness, Forfar, Glamorgan, Herefordshire, Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Kincardine, Middlesex, North Aberdeen, North Ebudes, North Essex, North Hampshire, North Somerset, North Wiltshire, Northumberland South, South Aberdeen, South Lancaster, South Somerset, South Wiltshire, Stafford, Surrey, 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). 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, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Corsica, Czech Republic, Danish mainland, Estonia, European Turkey, Finland, French mainland, Germany, Greek mainland, Hungary, Ireland, Italian mainland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Norwegian mainland, Poland, Romania, Russia - Central, East, North amd South, Sicily, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spanish mainland, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands and Ukraine (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.