Coleophoridae

37.026 White-tipped Case-bearer Coleophora violacea (Ström, 1783)

Notable B

Similar species:

Forewing: 4.5 to 5.5mm

Habitats: Deciduous woodland, scrub and hedgerows.

Habits: The moth flies in the evening.

Foodplant: The larva mines the leaves of apples, bramble, rose, Blackthorn, plums, birches, elms, Alder, limes, Rowan, Hazel and Roble Beech. The single case is extended with rings of leaf-cuticle that are added from the upper surface of the blotch. The case bulges in the middle and some of the fragments are added in a way that they untidily project from the front of the case. By the middle of June the leaves are honeycombed with holes cut from the upper surface of the blotches. The final case is 6mm long, m.o. at a 0° angle. The larva is full-fed by the autumn when it overwinters attached to a tree trunk or a fence, before pupating in April, somewhere near the ground. On the European mainland it has also been recorded feeding on Hop, Snowberry, Buckthorn, Quince, Meadowsweet, Wild Strawberry, Crab Apple, Medlar, Pear, Hornbeam and Bladdernut.