Food Plant: Dactylis spp., Brachypodium sylvaticum (False Brome), Holcus mollis (Creeping soft-grass), Hordelymus europaeus (Wood Barley)

Egg: Laid near to the leaf tip

Mine: November - May

Notes: Mkaes linear mines which are white and with a narrow line of greyish frass. A very similar mine to E.atricomella but the larva in this case is lemon yellow with a light brown head whereas that of atricomella is a pale yellow with a yellowish brown head. Pupates at the leaf base or in detritus. A widespread species found in roadside verges, woodland rides and edges and waste ground. A larva mining a central leaf of Hordelymus europaeus, making a very slim whitish mine that is hardly visible, down into the base of the stem. The older (upper) region of the mine has begun to turn brown and is more visible than the fresh mining at the base of the leaf.

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

Image:© Will Langdon