Head brown; forwing ground colour dark brown, white pattern consisting of a basal streek, not edged; a patch on dorsum near the base which is sometimes connected to the basal streak; four costal and three dorsal striae, the first pair of which are sometimes connected into a chevron, the distal ones sometimes very small.

An elongated tentiform mine on the underside of a leaf, mainly situated near the leaf basis. The last instar applies a lot of silk, contracting the mine into a tube. At first the underside of the mine is greyish green, the same colour as the leaf, but later on it turns light brown to brown. Sometimes, two mines may occur on the same leaf. The frass is concentrated in one corner of the mine.
See also gracillariidae.net and bladmineerders.be.

A very flimsy spinning occupying the inside of the entire mine. Pupa light brown.

The species hibernates in the pupal stage, among leaf litter on the ground. After emergence of the adult, the pupal skin protrudes from the mine.

The species is strictly monophagous on Salix viminalis.