Photo © Mike Wall

Coleophora vulnerariae

Checklist Number
37.064 [B&F: 0543]

Verification
Record requires retention of specimen until confirmed, and may require dissection. Consult with CMR if unsure

Classification

Family:Coleophoridae
Subfamily:Coleophorinae
Genus:Coleophora
Species:vulnerariae
Authority:Zeller, 1839

Extinct in the British Isles, reliably recorded only from chalk downland near St Margaret's Bay, east Kent, where adults and larvae were found in the late 1880s (MBGBI Vol 3). Unlikely to be recorded in Hampshire or on the Isle of Wight. Wingspan 12-15 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 feeds within seedpods of Kidney Vetch, living within a movable case, no evidence of breeding in the UK.