Coleophora albicosta
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The testaceous white-back (''Coleophora albicosta'') is a
moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...
of the family
Coleophoridae __NOTOC__ The Coleophoridae are a family of small moths, belonging to the huge superfamily Gelechioidea. Collectively known as case-bearers, casebearing moths or case moths, this family is represented on all continents, but the majority are foun ...
. It is found in most of western Europe. The
wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan o ...
is about 14 mm. Head pale ochreous, sides whitish. Antennae white, ringed with fuscous, basal joint ochreous-tinged, with rough spreading scales. Forewings light ochreous-yellowish, sprinkled with light fuscous, especially towards costa ; a white costal streak from base to near apex ; a white line in disc from before middle to termen, one along fold, and one along dorsum to apex. Hindwings grey.Meyrick, E., 1895 ''A Handbook of British Lepidoptera'' MacMillan, Londo
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Keys and description
Adults are on wing from June to July. They fly by day, but also sometimes come to light at night. The larvae feed on ''
Ulex europaeus ''Ulex europaeus'', the gorse, common gorse, furze or whin, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae, native to the British Isles and Western Europe. Description Growing to tall, it is an evergreen shrub. The young stems are g ...
'', at first on green seeds inside a seedpod. It then lives in a detached sepal rolled into a case, which it attaches to the side of a seedpod and bores in to feed on the seeds. Finally, it diapauses full-fed in a silk case in a dead flower and pupates in the overwintering case.


Gallery

Image:Britishentomologyvolume6Plate687.jpg, Illustration from John Curtis's '' British Entomology'' Volume 6 Image:Coleophora albicosta larva.JPG, Larva Image:Coleophora_albicosta_pod_of_Ulex_europaeus_with_two_larval_cases_attached.JPG, Pod of ''
Ulex europaeus ''Ulex europaeus'', the gorse, common gorse, furze or whin, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae, native to the British Isles and Western Europe. Description Growing to tall, it is an evergreen shrub. The young stems are g ...
'' with two larval cases attached


References


External links


UKmoths
albicosta Moths described in 1828 Moths of Europe Taxa named by Adrian Hardy Haworth {{Coleophoridae-stub