Food Plant: Poaceae such as Dactylis spp., Festuca spp., Holcus mollis (Creeping Soft grass), Hordelymus europaeus (Wood Barley)

Egg: laid near the leaf tip

Mine: September - April

Notes: The mine is intially narrow extending from the leaf tip. It then widens with irregular edges, with scattered patches of uneaten tissue in the mine. There may be more than one larva in the mine. Pupation occurs in a slight web on detritus but may also occur in broken stems of umbellifers. Found widely particularly in woodland clearings and margins. A close-up of a mine on Hordelymus europaeus showing the yellowish larva on the left.

Data: 16.ii.2023, Aston Rowant NNR, Oxfordshire,VC23

Image:© Will Langdon