Species Details

ABH: 37.033

BF: 516

Family: Coleophoridae

Taxon: Coleophora trifolii

Authority: (Curtis, 1832)

Vernacular: Melilot Case-bearer

Account: Local on rough grassland, waste ground and roadside verges throughout much of the British Isles, less numerous in Scotland, more numerous in the south The comparatively large size, metallic green forewings with copper apex and white tip to antennae, make this species one of the few which can be identified without recourse to dissection of the genitalia, although the differences in size between this and other related species may only be obvious in series of mounted, set specimens. Larva feeds within seedpods of Ribbed Melilot and Tall Melilot, living within a movable case.

Accounts provided by and used with the kind permission of Mike Wall, Hampshire County Moth Recorder. These will in due course be gradually replaced with species accounts with a Surrey context.

Wingspan: 15 — 20 mm

Surrey Flight Period: 8 Jun (2018) — 25 Jun (2018)

The flight period of overwintering adults are not given. See the flight chart below the distribution map.

Foodplant: Melilotus sp.

Foodplant accounts are from the HOSTS database — Natural History Museum, London, UK. (CC0).

Status: Local

UK BAP:

WCA:

Click here to view the full geology map of Surrey.

Verification Grade: 2 — Care needed to identify 🤔
Further Information: https://www.ukmoths.org.uk/species/coleophora-trifolii/
Statistics

* Based on adult records only.

Records: 7

Individuals: 0

Earliest Year: 1999

Latest Year: 2018

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