Coleophora niveicostella

Coleophora niveicostella
Coleophora niveicostella
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Coleophoridae
Genus: Coleophora
Species: C. niveicostella
Binomial name
Coleophora niveicostella
Zeller, 1839[1]

Coleophora niveicostella is a moth of the Coleophoridae family. It is found from Sweden and Latvia to Spain, Italy and Greece and from Great Britain to Romania.

The wingspan is 11-13 mm.[2] Adults are on wing in July. [3]

The larvae feed on Thymus praecox, Thymus pulegioides and Thymus serpyllum. They create a slender, brownish black, bivalved case of 7-8 mm. The oral half is tubular, while the rear part strongly laterally compressed. The mouth angle is about 30°. The case looks like a sheath case, but is in fact a composite leaf case. The larva cuts off mined leaves, after having removed the complete leaf margin: what is left is an upper and a lower epidermis, connected by the stub of the petiole. Leaves treated in this way are placed in front of the old case.[4] Full-grown larvae can be found in mid June.

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