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 salinella Stainton, 1859
[Lepidoptera: Coleophoridae]

Sea-purslane Case-bearer

Coleophora salinella Stainton, 1859. Entomol. Ann.: 154.

Seed-feeder and case-bearer: Larva feeds on seeds. The larva also feeds on leaves after the case is formed. The full-grown case is 6 mm long (British leafminers).

Full grown larva in an almost smooth, greyish-brown, trivalved, tubular silken case of c. 6 mm and a mouth angle of 30-45° (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Cases of Coleophora salinella Image: © Ian Thirlwell (British leafminers)
Cases of Coleophora salinella
Image: © Ian Thirlwell (British leafminers)

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 not illustrated in UKMoths (check for update). The species is included in mothdissection.co.uk.

Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:

Chenopodiaceae        
Atriplex       British leafminers, as Halimione
Atriplex littoralis Grass-leaved Orache British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. British leafminers

Hosts elsewhere:

Chenopodiaceae        
Atriplex littoralis Grass-leaved Orache British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Belgian Lepidoptera
Atriplex littoralis Grass-leaved Orache British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Atriplex patula Common Orache British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Atriplex prostrata Spear-leaved Orache British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Belgian Lepidoptera
Atriplex prostrata Spear-leaved Orache British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Atriplex portulacoides Sea-purslane British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Belgian Lepidoptera
Atriplex portulacoides Sea-purslane British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa, as Halimione

Time of year - larvae: September to October (British leafminers).

Time of year - adults: Currently unknown.

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Britain including Dorset, Durham, East Suffolk, Isle of Wight, North Essex and West Norfolk (NBN Atlas).

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Bulgaria, Cyprus, French mainland, Hungary, Italian mainland, Portuguese mainland, Sicily, Slovakia, Spanish mainland, The Netherlands and the Ukraine. Also recorded in the Near East (Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Atriplex littoralis, Atriplex patula, Atriplex prostrata, Atriplex portulacoides

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:

Ichneumonoidea - Links to species no longer available  
Agathis fuscipennis (Zetterstedt, 1838) Braconidae: Agathidinae

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

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 Last updated 11-Jul-2019  Brian Pitkin Top of page