Coleophora albella (Thunberg, 1788) Species
Last modified: Nov. 18, 2023, 11:16 a.m.
A very rare species, only found in the beginning of the 20th century in NA. Rediscovered in 2019 in the same province.
Details
- Classification
- Family: Coleophoridae > Genus: Coleophora > Species: Coleophora albella
- Vernacular names
- Witrandkokermot (NL), Viviparous case-bearer (EN), Weißrand-Miniersackträger (DE)
- Synonyms
- Coleophora leucapennella (Hübner, 1827)
- First mention in Belgium
- De Crombrugghe G. 1906a. Catalogue raisonné des Microlépidoptères de Belgique. — Mémoires de la Société entomologique de Belgique XIII: 1–172; XIV: 1–155. On page 73 (as leucapennella). view page
- Status
-
Native
Distribution
Imago
Wingspan: 14–17 mm.
C. albella is clearly dark grey with a broad white costa-line.
The antennae are ringed till the tip.
Museum specimens
No pictures yet!Specimens in nature
No pictures yet!Case
An empty seed-head is used as a case by the caterpillar. While growing, it can build several seed-heads together, with a maximum of five (cfr. Coleophora trifolii (Curtis, 1832) on Melilotus sp.).
See also bladmineerders.be.
Bionomics
The female is viviparous, no eggs are oviposited!
The larvae live on Silene flowers, especially inside the seeds.
The fully grown larva leaves the seed case looking for a tree to bore into the bark.
It overwinters and even pupates there in May.
Flight periods
In May, probably also in June.
Observed on
- Host plant (species):
- Lychnis flos-cuculi, Silene latifolia, Silene maritima, Silene vulgaris and Silene nutans
- Host plant (genera):
- Silene and Lychnis
Lychnis flos-cuculi is the main food plant, but cases have also been recorded on other Lychnis spp. and also Silene spp. are accepted.
Habitat
This species has a preference for plants living in open places inside woods.
