C is for Coleophora

08 Friday Dec 2023

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casebearer, casebearing moth larvae, Coleophora, Coleophora gryphipennella, Coleophora lutipennella, Coleophora serratella, leaf-mining moth larvae, moth larvae

Coleophora: the clue’s in the name, which is a combination of the Greek word koleós meaning sheath and phora meaning carrier. Coleophora is a genus of moths whose larvae construct a case, which they carry around with them and live in, kind of like a snail. These year’s Coleophora finds include Coleophora lutipennella and Coleophora serratella, both in May, and Coleophora gryphipennella just a few weeks ago. You can see from the photos below how diverse their cases are – and these are some of the simpler designs.

231208 Coleophora

Leafmines: Coleophora serratella

15 Monday May 2023

Posted by sconzani in insects, trees

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British leafminers, British moths, case-bearing moth larva, Coleophora serratella, Common case-bearer, leafminers on Birch, moth larvae

I’ve been checking Birch trees since their green leaves first started to unfold, prompted by a post I’d seen by Rob Edmunds (@leafminerman on Twitter) of the British Leafminers website to check for the small holes created by the feeding of the tiny Common case-bearer moth, Coleophora serratella. Finally, last Tuesday, I found some on a tree in Cardiff’s Grangemoor Park.

And, luckily, the little case-bearing larva was still in situ, initially checking out some silky seedhead fibres that had lodged on the end of its leaf, then retreating to the patch that marked where it had been feeding and resumed munching. You can read more about this beauty on the British Leafminers website and see the adult moth on the UK Moths website.