[1][2][3] A. hydrangaeella can be found in the eastern United States, including Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio, and Tennessee.

[2][3] The larvae are colorless or whitish besides their green gut contents, with a dark brown head and prothorax.

[3] The leaf mine begins with a long, sometimes contorted linear portion that eventually widens out into an elongate blotch or wide gallery.

The frass ranges from green to black in color, and is distributed in a narrow line at the start of the mine but forms a central smear in the larger, later portion of the mine.

When mature and ready to pupate, the larvae cut out a 3.5–4.5 mm (0.14–0.18 in) long case from their host leaf, leaving an elliptic hole.