Coleophora lineolea

If you have the common hedgerow plant Hedge Woundwort Stachys sylvatica growing in your garden or in shady corners locally, it is worth having a quick check now for one of those moth species which use it at their larval stage.  We have plenty in the garden at Westcott and it is home to both Coleophora lineolea and Endothenia nigricostana (as well as a colony of the smart little shield-bug Eysarcoris venustissimus).  I noticed the first feeding signs of Coleophora lineolea this morning on the upper surface of one young leaf (a mined area, with an obvious hole in the lower surface through which the larva feeds).  Sure enough, attached to the underside of the same leaf was the culprit in its case, the size of which suggests that it was almost fully grown.  This is a common moth in our area but, like many Coleophorids, is under-recorded because the adult generally needs dissection to get a species ID.   

Feeding signs of Coleophora lineolea, Westcott 18th April

Active larval case of Coleophora lineolea, Westcott 18th April

Dave Wilton Westcott, Bucks