Bud-borer
and case-bearer: The larva bores into expanding leaf buds, and later skeletonizes
young leaves, rarely mining a leaf in the usual manner of other Coleophora species. It builds a 'pistol case' from silk and
fragments of leaf and frass. The sides of the case are usually adorned
with hairs from the leaf surface, this feature serving to distinguish
it from the similar case of C.
anatipennella, which feeds on sloe (Prunus spinosa) and other rosaceous trees and shrubs (UKMoths).
Blackish
brown pistol case of about 7 mm, with a mouth angle of c. 70°
standing almost erect on the leaf. The case is decorated with white
wool, originating from the hostplant. In comparison with C. zelleriella the case is more paunchy (Bladmineerders van Europa).
The
case is also illustrated in British
leafminers and the Encyclopedia of Life.
Larva: The larvae of moths have a head capsule and chewing mouthparts with opposable mandibles (see video of a gracillarid larva feeding), six thoracic legs and abdominal legs (see examples).
Pupa: The pupae of moths have visible head appendages, wings and legs which lie in sheaths (see examples).
Adult:
The adult is illustrated in UKMoths and the Encyclopedia
of Life. The species is included in mothdissection.co.uk.
Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:
Hosts
elsewhere:
Time
of year - larvae: Autumn-May (British
leafminers). Larvae are full grown about end May (Emmet et al.,
1996a).
Time
of year - adults: June and July, and often comes to mercury
vapour light (UKMoths).
Distribution
in Great Britain and Ireland: Widely distributed in the southern
half of the British Isles in wet or marshy areas, damp woodland
and fixed dunes (UKMoths)
including Anglesey, Cambridgeshire, Denbighshire, Dorset, East Cornwall,
East Kent, East Norfolk, East Suffolk, Flintshire, Glamorgan, Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Middlesex, North Somerset, Pembrokeshire, Shropshire, South Hampshire, South Wiltshire, South-east Yorkshire, Stafford, Surrey, West Cornwall, West Gloucestershire, West Lancashire, West Norfolk, West Suffolk and
Westmorland (NBN
Atlas).
Also
recorded from the Republic of Ireland
(Fauna Europaea and National Biodiversity Data Centre Map).
Distribution
elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Austria,
Belgium, Crete, Czech Republic, Danish mainland, Estonia, Finland,
French mainland, Germany, Hungary, Italian mainland, Latvia, Liechtenstein,
Lithuania, Luxembourg, Norwegian mainland, Poland, Portuguese mainland,
Romania, Russia - East and South, Sicily, Slovakia, Slovenia, ?
Spanish mainland, Sweden, Switzerland and The Netherlands (Fauna Europaea).
NBN Atlas links to known host species:
British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:
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