Coleophora trifolii [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 trifolii (Curtis, 1832)
[Lepidoptera: Coleophoridae]

Large Clover Case-bearer

Damophila trifolii Curtis, 1832. Brit. Ent. 9: 391.
Coleophora trifolii (Curtis, 1832).

Seed-feeder and case-bearer: Larva makes a case from seedpods and up to three pods may be joined together. The final case is trivalved and black in colour (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 illustrated in UKMoths. The species is included in mothdissection.co.uk.

Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:

Fabaceae
Melilotus			UKMoths
Melilotus	altissimus	Tall Melilot	British leafminers
Melilotus	officinalis	Ribbed Melilot	British leafminers

Hosts elsewhere:

Fabaceae
Melilotus	altissimus	Tall Melilot	Belgian Lepidoptera
Melilotus	officinalis	Ribbed Melilot	Belgian Lepidoptera

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

Time of year - adults: June and July. The adults fly in the daytime, but are also attracted to light at night (UKMoths).

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Present in England and Wales, being commoner in the south. Occurs in areas of open waste ground and grassland (UKMoths); including Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Cumberland, Denbighshire, Dorset, Durham, East Norfolk, East Suffolk, Glamorgan, Hereforshire, Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Isle of Wight, Leicestershire, Middlesex, North Essex, North Hampshire, North Somerset, North-east Yorkshire, Shropshire, South Devon, South Essex, South Hampshire, SSouth Wiltshire, South-west Yorkshire, Stafford, Surrey, Warwickshire, West Gloucestershire, West Lancashire, West Norfolk and West Suffolk (NBN Atlas).

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

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Danish mainland, Estonia, Finland, French mainland, Germany, Greek mainland, Hungary, Italian mainland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Norwegian mainland, Poland, Romania, Russia - Central and North, Sicily, Slovakia, Spanish mainland, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands and Ukraine. Also recorded in East Palaearctic, Near East, North Africa and Nearctic region (Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Melilotus altissimus, Melilotus officinalis

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:

Ichneumonoidea - Links to species no longer available
Gelis avarus (Förster 1850)	Ichneumonidae: Cryptinae


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 11-Jul-2019 Brian Pitkin