Food Plant: Phragmites australis (Common Reed)

Mine: August-April

Notes: A straight mine which widens. Frass is at one end of the mine and also ejected. Usually one mine in a leaf, but may be more. The larva spins a tube at the base of the mine and hides there. The larva overwinters in the mine. First discovered in 1996 in Dorset. Seems to prefer drier situations such as Alder carr. Old mines shown on a fallen leaf of Common Reed. At newly-colonised sites where densities of mines can be high, it is possible to find mines on fallen leaves in late winter, these will produce adults within a few weeks if kept indoors.

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Image:© Will Langdon