Food Plant: Beta vulgaris ssp. maritima (Sea Beet), B vulgaris ssp. vulgaris (Sugar Beet)

Egg: on or near the foodplant

Mine: October-May; June-August

Notes: Feeds in mined leaves, or leaves which may be spun untidily together; also in buds and stems. The leaves may be rolled in the vicinity of mines. The mine is without frass as this is deposited in a web at the mine entrance. Found on salt marshes and areas of coastal shingle primarily in the south of England. Found feeding in the roots and crowns of sugar beet causing some damage.

Gelechiidae Recording Scheme: link

Bradley No: 814

National Status: Nationally Scarce B

Data: 02.iv.2022, St.Agnes, Cornwall, VC1

Image:© Jack Oughton

References:
Hering EM (1957), Bestimmungstabellen der Blattminen von Europa.
Langmaid JR, Palmer SM & Young MR (2018), A Field Guide to the Smaller Moths of Great Britain and Ireland
Emmet MA & Langmaid JRL(2002), The Moths and Butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland, Volume 4 (Part2), Gelechiidae