Hantsmoths

Nationally scarce (Na) in pine woodland, Calluna heathland and moorland in two well-separated areas: the Pennine Range, extending westwards into Lancashire and Cheshire and just into Wales in Flintshire, and southwards to northern Warwickshire; and in western central Scotland and the Scottish Highlands (MBGBI Vol 3). Unlikely to be recorded in Hampshire or on the Isle of Wight. Wingspan male 11-13 mm, female 10-12 mm. Like many of the Coleophora, imagines are virtually impossible to identify without recourse to dissection, and the larvae, which live in cases of characteristic form and which can sometimes be found on the foodplant, may be easier to identify by comparison against a reference collection. Larva mines leaves of Cowberry, living within a movable case, over-wintering twice.