Coleophoridae

37.088 Saltern Case-bearer Coleophora atriplicis Meyrick, [1928]

Notable B

Similar species:

Forewing: 5.5 to 6.5mm

Habitats: Salt-marsh.

Habits: The moth flies in the evening and later comes to light.

Foodplant: The larva feeds internally on the seeds of Sea-purslane, Annual Sea-blite, Grass-leaved Orache and glassworts. It later feeds externally from a case, on the seeds and occasionally the leaves. The finished trivalved case is constructed from grey-brown silk and is subcylindrical and decorated with granular material except for the darker expansion stripes. It is 6.5 to 7.5mm long, m.o. at a 20° angle. It is full-fed in October when it overwinters attached to a stem at ground level, often partly submerged in mud. It pupates attached higher up a stem than when it overwintered or it may pupate inside an upright broken-off stem of Sea Aster.