Last modified: March 3, 2024, 6:33 p.m.
New species for Belgium in 2015 (VB). Hitherto only known from that observation.
Migrant
Grooved and whitish in colour, becoming creamy pink with age. Laid in small batches beneath leaf sheaths.
Larvae rarely feed on the outer leaves, preferring to bore into stems to feed within galleries that become filled with frass. Stem feeding by the larvae results in the death of growing points, dead hearts, stem breakage and wilting of leaves. Larvae also feed on flowers and fruits of some hosts.
The adults are on the wing usually all year round. The Belgian observation dates from late April.
The larvae live in the stems of Phragmites communis and especially Arundo donax, rarely probably also in other grasses with thick stems.
It inhabits wetlands and other places with the host plants.