Sunday 19 May 2013

Coleophora serratella larva changes its case.

A Coleophora serratella  larva that I found on Baildon Bank two weeks ago has now constructed its second and final case.
On the left-hand side (of the top picture) there is an obvious indentation in the leaf where a mine was excavated and then cut out before being lined with silk to create the typical cigar-shaped case.

The abandoned, dorsally-arched, first case was left abandoned affixed to the margin of the original mine and can be seen on the lower picture which shows the upper side of the leaf.
Over the next couple of months I will be collecting more cases to study the parasitoids which attack them.