Food Plant: Bellis perennis ( Daisy), Crepis biennis ( Rough Hawks-beard), Helminthotheca echioides ( Bristly Oxtongue), Lapsana sp., L.communis ( Nipplewort), Mycelis sp., Picris sp., Sonchus arvensis ( Perennial Sow-thistle), S.asper ( Prickly Sow-thistle), S. oleraceus(Smooth Sow-thistle), Taraxacum sp., Taraxacum officinale ( Dandelion)

Mine: Spring and summer

Notes: Found most commonly on Taraxacum officinale . The mine illustrated is from Sonchus. Forms a white mine along the midrib, with side branches into the leaf blade. Pupation occurs at the base of the midrib. Adult emerged 02.viii.2017. The mines of O.beckeri and O pulicaria are similar and so the adults must be bred to identify the leaf miner.

Data: 15.vii.2017, Hessle, South-east Yorkshire, VC61

Image:© Barry Warrington

Recording Grade: 5

References:
Hering, M (1957) - Bestimmungstabellen der Blattminen von Europa.
Robbins, J (1990) - A Provisional Atlas of The Leaf Miners of Warwickshire.
Spencer, K A (1976) - The Agromyzidae of Fennoscandia and Denmark.
Spencer, K.A (1972) - "Diptera: Agromyzidae" Handbooks for the Identification of British Insects, Royal Entomological Society of London.