Coleophora lassella [Lepidoptera: Coleophoridae] in Leaf and stem mines of British flies and other insects

The leaf and stem mines of British flies and other insects

(Coleoptera, Diptera, Hymenoptera and Lepidoptera)

by Brian Pitkin, Willem Ellis, Colin Plant and Rob Edmunds

Coleophora lassella (Staudinger, 1859)
[Lepidoptera: Coleophoridae]

Toad-rush Case-bearer

Coleophora lassella (Staudinger, 1859).

Seed-feeder: The case is made from a seed capsule and the larvae consume the contents of a capsule before attaching to another one to feed. The final case is 4-5mm long (British leafminers).

Case of Coleophora lassella Images: Ian Thirlwell (British leafminers)

Case of Coleophora lassella
Image: © Ian Thirlwell (British leafminers)

Larva: The larvae of moths have a head capsule and chewing mouthparts with opposable mandibles (see video of a gracillarid larva feeding), six thoracic legs and abdominal legs (see examples).

Pupa: The pupae of moths have visible head appendages, wings and legs which lie in sheaths (see examples).

Adult: The adult is not illustrated in UKMoths (check for update). The species is included in mothdissection.co.uk.

Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:

Juncaceae
Juncus	bufonius	Toad Rush		British leafminers

Hosts elsewhere: Currently unknown.

Time of year - larvae: July - September (British leafminers).

Time of year - adults: Currently unknown.

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Britain including Dorset, East Suffolk, Isle of Wight, Middlesex, Surrey and West Cornwall (NBN Atlas), Hartland Moor, Dorset (British leafminers) and the Channel Is. (Fauna Europaea)

Also recorded in the Republic of Ireland (Fauna Europaea and National Biodiversity Data Centre Map).

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Belgium, Canary Is., Corsica, Crete, Cyprus, Danish mainland, Finland, French mainland, Germany, Greek mainland, Italian mainland, Latvia, North Aegean Is., Norwegian mainland, Poland, Portuguese mainland, Russia - South, Sardinia, Sicily, Spanish mainland, Sweden and The Netherlands (Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Juncus buffonius

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere: Currently unknown.


External links:	Search the internet:
Belgian Lepidoptera Biodiversity Heritage Library Bladmineerders van Europa British leafminers Encyclopedia of Life Fauna Europaea NBN Atlas NHM UK Checklist UKMoths	Find using Google Find using Google Scholar Find images using Google


	Last updated 19-May-2019 Brian Pitkin