On 18th May I noticed some Coleophorid feeding signs on our alder and eventually managed to trace the culprit to the case shown below, fixed for pupation as it was in the same leaf-edge spot today and has now been taken into custody. Four species are known from alder but I believe this has to be either the nationally scarce Coleophora orbitella, which was new for the garden last year, or else Coleophora binderella which I had here back in 2014 (both were adults dissected by Peter Hall).
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| Coleophorid case on alder, Westcott 18th May |
Further feeding signs elsewhere on the tree had appeared by today and another case was found, still actively feeding.
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| Feeding signs on alder, Westcott 21st May |
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| Coleophorid case on alder, Westcott 21st May |
Looking at the case photos on the UK Leaf-mines website suggests that I may even have both species here, with the first a candidate for orbitella while the second looks more like that of binderella, but hopefully I'll find out for sure in a few weeks. Unfortunately the adults do look fairly similar so dissection will almost certainly still be required.
Dave Wilton Westcott, Bucks
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