Coleophora vicinella
Encyclopedia
Coleophora vicinella is a moth
of the Coleophoridae
family. It is found from France
to Ukraine
and then further south.
The wingspan
is 16-17 mm.
The larvae feed on Astragalus
, Coronilla
, Dorycnium
, Galega and Medicago sativa. They create an ochreous pistol case with many sharp ridges and a sharp ventral keel. The pallium covers about three quarters of the case and has a pair of wing like extensions at the rear. It is strongly inflated and has a scalloped surface structure. The colour is yellowish white at first, but brown or even black later. The mouth angle is 45°. Older larvae no longer feed within fleck mines, but feed on all leaf tissue except the stronger veins. Larvae can be found from autumn to May of the following year.
Moth
A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...
of the Coleophoridae
Coleophoridae
| name = Case-bearers| image = Coleophoridae-01 .jpg| image_width = 240px| image_caption = Adult of an unidentified case-bearer species| regnum = Animalia| phylum = Arthropoda| classis = Insecta| ordo = Lepidoptera| superfamilia = Gelechioidea...
family. It is found from France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
to Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
and then further south.
The wingspan
Wingspan
The wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about ; and a Wandering Albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of , the official record for a living bird.The term wingspan, more technically extent, is...
is 16-17 mm.
The larvae feed on Astragalus
Astragalus
Astragalus is a large genus of about 3,000 species of herbs and small shrubs, belonging to the legume family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae. The genus is native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...
, Coronilla
Coronilla
The genus Coronilla contains Old World shrubs and herbs.Coronilla species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including the case-bearers Coleophora coronillae and Coleophora vicinella.Species include:* Coronilla glauca* Coronilla iberica* Coronilla minima* Coronilla...
, Dorycnium
Dorycnium
Dorycnium is a genus of ten species in the pea family, from the Mediterranean and the Canary Islands. It is related to Lotus and Tetragonolobus. Both Tetragonolobus and Dorycnium have sometimes been classified as part of Lotus....
, Galega and Medicago sativa. They create an ochreous pistol case with many sharp ridges and a sharp ventral keel. The pallium covers about three quarters of the case and has a pair of wing like extensions at the rear. It is strongly inflated and has a scalloped surface structure. The colour is yellowish white at first, but brown or even black later. The mouth angle is 45°. Older larvae no longer feed within fleck mines, but feed on all leaf tissue except the stronger veins. Larvae can be found from autumn to May of the following year.