There is no preference for upper or lower surface. The freshly laid eggs are creamy white and shaped like an elongated oval. There are three larval stages. Each larval instar is completed in 2 - 3 days. The pupal stage is yellow-brown in color and distinctly segmented.
Pupae are rectangular oval shaped narrowing at the ends.
This stage does no feeding damage and development is completed in 5 to 12 days. Adults live for 10-20 days depending on environmental conditions. The first larval stage of the vegetable leafminer burrows into the mesophyl tissue. The second stage also feeds in the mesophyl tissue. The third stage larva concentrates its feeding towards the upper leaf surface.