Food Plant: Brachypodium sylvaticum (False Brome), Bromus erectus (Upright Brome) and other Gramineae (Grasses).

Egg:  Often two or three close together on the upper side.

Mine: November-May; July.

Pupa: Attached to leaf or stem with silken girdle.

Notes: Initially a narrow brownish mine with blackish frass at its base. The larva then moves to another leaf, forming a broader mine. Both mines can pucker the blade. Initially, larvae mine downwards in long, thin mines with frass piled at the top. Most larvae remain in these over the winter, changing leaves in the spring, but this short, fresh mine was found in mid-winter, suggesting that some larvae may change leaves before spring.

Data: 29.xii.2022, Watchet, South Somerset, VC5

Image:© Will Langdon