Coleophora tricolor

Coleophora tricolor
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Coleophoridae
Genus:	Coleophora
Species:	C. tricolor
Binomial name
Coleophora tricolor Walsingham, 1899[1]

The basil-thyme case-bearer moth (Coleophora tricolor) is a moth of the Coleophoridae family. It is found in Great Britain, southern France and Greece.^[2]

The wingspan is 14-18 mm.

The larvae feed on Poaceae species, including Bromopsis erecta, Dactylis glomerata, Holcus lanatus, Koeleria macrantha, Phleum bertolonii and Poa pratensis. Young larvae eat the receptacle out of a floret of Acinos arvensis and uses the calyce as its first case. Even before the onset of winter it switches to grasses. The larva then lives in an ochraceous, bivalved, tubular leaf case of about 9 mm, with a mouth angle of about 25°.^[3] Larvae can be found from September to June or July.

References

1. Fauna Europaea
2. Coleophora nepetellae Baldizzone & Nel, a new species of the C. lixella group (Lepidoptera, Coleophoridae) from France and Italy
3. bladmineerders.nl