The most recent comprehensive biological research on this insect was published in 1914 by W. J. Phillips. Much of the biological information reported below is from that publication. They feed internally by scraping away green leaf tissue, leaving behind transparent tunnels or mines. As the maggots grow, the mines increase in width. When larvae are mature they drop off the plant and pupate in the soil.
Adults emerge and start the cycle over.
There are several generations in a year. During the hottest part of the summer, a fly can complete its life cycle in about three weeks. Although it is not known definitely, it is likely that leafminers overwinter in the soil as pupae. Of cultivated crops, corn blotch leafminers primarily damage corn. They also have been reported to feed on some of the cultivated Panicum millets.