Status: Widespread and common, except central & northern Scotland
Habitat: Various
Host plant: Various Asteraceae; sometimes on trees.
Overwintering: As larvae (in soil at about 3cm depth), occasionally (but not usually) as adults in moss and grass tussocks.
Food: Adults on leaves (mainly knapweeds, Centaurea spp.); early-instar larvae mine primary & secondary leaf-veins, later-instar larvae feed on the entire leaf tissue between the upper & lower epidermis. Larvae may be able to develop in the flowers of globe artichokes (Cynara cardunculus).
Other notes: Almost circular from above. Front angles of pronotum not prominent. Pronotal punctures very fine, sometimes appearing almost absent. Hibernating larvae and spring pupae predated by several carabid beetle species.