They grow to a length of about 2 cms. They have only eight prolegs, and are unusual in having a U-shaped arrangement (penellipse) of crochets on the prolegs. The caterpillars pupate in the leaf they have been mining, which usually curls over.

(Photo: courtesy of Nick Monaghan, Bayswater, Victoria)

The adult moths are yellow with purple markings, and have a wingspan of about 2 cms.

(Photo: courtesy of CSIRO/BIO Photography Group, Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, University of Guelph)

The species occurs in many parts of the world, including :

and was introduced by unfortunate accident into Australia, where it is now found in:

Further reading :

Ian F.B. Common,
Moths of Australia, Melbourne University Press, 1990, fig. 20.10, pp. 198-199.

Antonius Brants,
Mededeeling te doen van eene, zeer belangrijke waarneming van den Phytopathologischen Dienst. In: verslag van de acht- en- zestigste Zomervergadering der Nederlandse entomologische vereeniging.: LXX–LXXII,
in Jan Christiaan Sepp :
Nederlandsche Insecten,
Gravenhage, Ser. 3 (1913).

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(updated 22 January 2013, 10 May 2021)