Food Plant: Erigeron acris (Blue Fleabane)

Egg: laid on a flower

Mine: September-May

Notes: The larva feeds initially on the seeds in a case which is well hidden in the pappus. The case is trivalved, blackish, 5-6mm long with pappus hairs sometimes incorporated . The larva is fully fed in October and then enters diapause. Found in dry thin grasslands, waste ground and raodside verges. Can be locally common in Southern England. Erigeron acris growing in an arable field margin on the chalk. 8 rather isolated plants were found here, and more than half had larvae on, some had several on. There were however much larger patches of plants in adjacent fields.

Data: 01.ix.2022, Oxfordshire, VC28

Image:© Will Langdon