Recording method

Easily disturbed by day.  Come to light.

Life cycle

Larvae are present January-May, at first mining a basal leaf in an irregular mine which may contain greenish-brown frass.  Later the larva enters the stem to feed, ejecting frass from the entry hole, after which it feeds from a silken, sand-covered tube located on basal leaves which are touching the ground.  Adults fly May-September.

Larval foodplants

Common Mouse-ear, Little Mouse-ear.

History

The first for Dumfries & Galloway was found near Monreith, Wigtownshire, during July 1899 by K. J. Morton, specimens at National Museums Scotland, while the first for Kirkcudbrightshire was found at Mullock Bay on 22nd August 2003 during a ‘Grey Daggers’ Moth Group field meeting.