Coleophora artemisicolella [Lepidoptera: Coleophoridae] in Leaf and stem mines of British flies and other insects

The leaf and stem mines of British flies and other insects

(Coleoptera, Diptera, Hymenoptera and Lepidoptera)

by Brian Pitkin, Willem Ellis, Colin Plant and Rob Edmunds

Coleophora artemisicolella Bruand, 1855
[Lepidoptera: Coleophoridae]

Mugwort Case-bearer

Coleophora artemisicolella Bruand, 1855. Mem. Soc. emend. Doubs. 2 (6): 98.

Seed-feeder and case-bearer: The larva feeds on the seeds and makes a case from the empty seedhead. The presence of larvae can be seen by the holes they leave in the seedheads (British leafminers).

Larva in a floret that has been eaten out, and strengthened with silk. Usually the larvae live in the inflorescence and feed upon the developing fruits, but sometimes one strays to the leaves (Bladmineerders van Europa).

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).

Described by Suire (1961a) (Bladmineerders van Europa).

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. The species is included in mothdissection.co.uk.

Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:

Asteraceae
Artemisia	vulgaris	Mugwort	British leafminers
Artemisia	vulgaris	Mugwort	UKMoths

Hosts elsewhere:

Asteraceae
Artemisia			Belgian Lepidoptera
Artemisia	vulgaris	Mugwort	Belgian Lepidoptera
Artemisia	vulgaris	Mugwort	Bladmineerders van Europa

Time of year - larvae: August - June (British leafminers).

Time of year - adults: July and August (UKMoths).

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Present though locally, in southern and eastern England, with a scattered distribution extending to northern England and North Wales (UKMoths); Bedfordshire, Caernarvonshire, Dorset, East Cornwall, East Norfolk, East Suffolk, Flintshire, Herefordshire, Hertfordhsire, Huntingdonshire, Isle of Wight, Middlesex, North Hampshire, South-west Yorkshire, West Cornwall, West Norfolk, and West Suffolk (NBN Atlas). It prefers waste ground and similar habitats (UKMoths).

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Danish mainland, Estonia, Finland, French mainland, Germany, Hungary, Italian mainland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norwegian mainland, Poland, Russia - Central and South, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland and The Netherlands (Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Artemisia vulgaris

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:

Ichneumonoidea - Links to species no longer available
Agathis fuscipennis (Zetterstedt, 1838)	Braconidae: Agathidinae
Campoletis ensator (Gravenhorst, 1829)	Ichneumonidae: Campopleginae


External links:	Search the internet:
Belgian Lepidoptera Biodiversity Heritage Library Bladmineerders van Europa British leafminers Encyclopedia of Life Fauna Europaea NBN Atlas NHM UK Checklist UKMoths	Find using Google Find using Google Scholar Find images using Google


	Last updated 11-Jul-2019 Brian Pitkin