Coleophora lutarea (Haworth, 1828) Species
Last modified: Dec. 2, 2024, 6:35 p.m.
A rare species in Belgium.
Details
- Classification
- Family: Coleophoridae > Genus: Coleophora > Species: Coleophora lutarea
- Vernacular names
- Grijze muurkokermot (NL), Sternmieren-Sackträgermotte (DE)
- Synonyms
- Coleophora modestella (Duponchel, 1839)
- First mention in Belgium
- De Fré Ch. 1858. Catalogue des Microlépidoptères de la Belgique. — Annales de la Société entomologique belge 2: 45–162. On page 150.
- Status
-
Native
Distribution
Imago
Wingspan 10–14 mm.
The forewings are uniformly coloured: greyish brown with most of the time a shine on the wings.
The antennae are alternately ringed till the tip.
Museum specimens
No pictures yet!Specimens in nature
Bionomics
The larva spends almost its entire life in a seed capsule, feeding on the ripening seeds. Only fully grown, it makes a silken case within the now empty and dry capsule. Very often it leaves the host plant and walks up a tree where it gnaws a cavity in the bark, leaving the case behind, and enters the winter diapause. The larvae are fully fed and leave their capsule in mid-June.
The adults are most of the time deep in a flower to suck the nectar. They are day active but also come to light.
Flight periods
The adults fly in one generation a year, from the end of April till the end of May.
Observed on
- Host plant (species):
- Stellaria holostea
In Belgium this species is monophagous on Stellaria holostea.
