COLEOPHORIDAE: 1 - 45

37.005 Oak Case-bearer (Coleophora lutipennella), a tenanted case on oak, North Dean wood, June 10th 2011. As with many Coleophora cases they are fascinating constructions made of silk and they often incorporate sections of the food plant to aid camouflage.

37.005 Oak Case-bearer (Coleophora lutipennella) female, reared from the larva above, June 28th 2011. Gen. det. Harry Beaumont, in Jan. 2012.

37.005 Oak Case-bearer (Coleophora lutipennella) to MV light at Cromwell Bottom on July 9th 2023.

37.006 Rose Case-bearer (Coleophora gryphipennella) mines and case on Dog Rose at Pickwood Scar, Sept. 27th 2017. Possibly old mines and a case from the spring.

37.015 Common Case-bearer (Coleophora serratella) case, larva and mines in birch, Exley Bank wood, Apr. 30th 2018. The larva can be seen mining the leaf as a dark blob in the upper mine. A second mine below shows the trademark, circular puncture hole.

37.015 Common Case-bearer (Coleophora serratella), the autumn "pistol" case found in close proximity to the case pictured above. 

37.015 Common Case-bearer (Coleophora serratella) cases and mines in birch at the cycle-way at Mytholmroyd on Apr. 24th 2024. It's not unusual to find the small autumn case in close proximity to the full-sized, spring mine.

I think the mine to the left of the autumn case has been excised to form the spring case.

37.015 Common Case-bearer (Coleophora serratella), May 19th 2024. It was reared from the case pictured above.

37.016 Apple & Plum Case-bearer (Coleophora spinella) agg., first year case on Hawthorn, Copley meadow, May 26th 09. This case was formed in the autumn and used by the larva to overwinter in. In spring it makes a larger case to continue to feed from. 

37.016 Apple & Plum Case-bearer (Coleophora spinella) feeding larva, case and mines on Hawthorn at the cycle-way at Luddenden Foot on May 9th 2022.

37.016 Apple & Plum Case-bearer (Coleophora spinella) female, reared from the case pictured above on June 23rd 2022. 

37.022 Willow Case-bearer (Coleophora lusciniaepennella), a tenanted case on Goat Willow at Copley village, May 15th 2018.

37.022 Willow Case-bearer (Coleophora lusciniaepennella), feeding signs on Goat Willow at a canal-side field at West Vale, Apr. 28th 09.

  

37.022 Willow Case-bearer (Coleophora lusciniaepennella), a newly emerged adult resting on its case, May 24th 09. One of two reared from cases found at West Vale, details above.

37.028 Least Case-bearer (Coleophora juncicolella) case, Mar. 23rd 2016. A beautifully camouflaged case constructed from mined Heather leaves. This one was inadvertently taken at Norland moor the previous day. It only came to my attention when I noticed the larva moving away from some Heather sprigs I had collected for my Northern Eggar larva.

At only 3mm in length the case was still under construction.

37.030 Alder Case-bearer (Coleophora binderella) case and larva on birch, North Dean wood, May 12th 2011. This tiny case, just 4mm long was only noticed at home after accidentally collecting it along with its foodplant to feed other larvae. The brown upper half of the case was built in the autumn and is what the larva overwintered in. The lower half is the new addition in the spring and is still quite fresh and green. 

37.030 Alder Case-bearer (Coleophora binderella) to light at my new place in Luddenden Foot on June 20th 2023. 

37.033 Melilot Case-bearer (Coleophora trifolii) case and larva on Tall Melilot at Brearley Playing Fields Nature Reserve on Aug. 14th 2022. It was found after just a couple of minutes suggesting that as the weeks go by more should be easy to find.

UPDATE: As more funding for the development of the reserve has come through the machines have moved in and cleared the site so it's goodbye to these case-bearers, at least for now.

37.033 Melilot Case-bearer (Coleophora trifolii) case and larva, a close-up of the above case. So far the larva has used two empty seed pods for its case, it will probably use a third for the finished article.

37.034 Red-clover Case-bearer (Coleophora frischella) in cop at Clock Face quarry, Krumlin on May 29th 2022. They were swept from Red Clover by Anthony Arak who has found them to be quite easy to find both here and at a site in Barkisland by using this method. 

37.044 Lotus Case-bearer (Coleophora discordella) mines on Birds-foot Trefoil, Cromwell Bottom, May 12th 2018. Both the mines and puncture holes are easily visible on the upper surface.

37.044 Lotus Case-bearer (Coleophora discordella), a tenanted case and mine, details above. While the larva was constructing the case out of excised leaf fragments it even included a piece of old mine.