This beautiful larval case with a neat lid, 5mm long, was found on a Wych Elm leaf at Dancersend. Is it from a micro-moth? Can anyone help with an ID or a suggestion about where to go with my investigations?
Hi Mick, four coleophorids are known from elm according to the leaf-mine web-site (see http://www.leafmines.co.uk/html/Plants/ulmus.htm). There doesn't appear to be any sign of feeding on that particular leaf so you'd need to be very cautious about whether the larva could have wandered onto it from somewhere else. To me it looks most like the case of Coleophora serratella which, although the website doesn't associate it particularly with U. glabra, it is a very common species on U. procera and a number of other tree species.
Of course, that's assuming that it is lepidopterous in the first place. It has been suggested to me that it might actually be a hymenopteran pupal case - does anyone else have any thoughts?
Hi Mick, four coleophorids are known from elm according to the leaf-mine web-site (see http://www.leafmines.co.uk/html/Plants/ulmus.htm). There doesn't appear to be any sign of feeding on that particular leaf so you'd need to be very cautious about whether the larva could have wandered onto it from somewhere else. To me it looks most like the case of Coleophora serratella which, although the website doesn't associate it particularly with U. glabra, it is a very common species on U. procera and a number of other tree species.
ReplyDeleteOf course, that's assuming that it is lepidopterous in the first place. It has been suggested to me that it might actually be a hymenopteran pupal case - does anyone else have any thoughts?
ReplyDeleteI'm inclined to think it is Hymenopterous.
ReplyDeleteThanks both. I was beginning to explore the possibility of Green lacewing as i found a larva not too far away.
ReplyDelete