Coleophora potentillae Elisha, 1885

shaded case-bearer

Rubus fruticosus, Bunderbos

detail

Rubus fruticosus, Cadzand, case

Sanguisorba minor, Belgium, Viroinval; case

cases

Alchemilla xanthochlora, Belgium, prov. Namur, Ciney, Lienne © Jean-Yves Baugnée

Prunus spinosa, Belgium, prov. West Flanders © Chris Snyers: Two generations! The mines, of which the lower epidermis has been cut away, are the work of a full grown larva. The case is a youth case, quite different from the full grown case, consisting of many small rings, and having a mouth angle of about 90°.

case

Generally off-white, sometimes darker lobe cae, that lies almost flat on the leaf (mouth angle 30°-50°). Case not remarkably wide in its middle section. The lobes are cut from lower epidermis; as a result the mines can have both the usual small holes, and much larger holes, in their underside. (Compare with C. violacea, that cuts the lobes from the upper side of the leaf.)

host plants

mainly oligophagous on herbaceous Rosaceae

Agrimonia; Alchemilla xanthochlora; Betula pendula, pubescens; Crataegus monogyna; Filipendula ulmaria; Fragaria vesca; Geum; Helianthemum nummularium; Malus sylvestris; Potentilla; Prunus; Ribes; Rosa; Rubus fruticosus, idaeus; Salix caprea, cinerea; Sanguisorba minor; Spiraea.

How this apparently polyphagy should be understood is not clear. Coleophora-larvae are quite agile, and can easily stray, possibly temporarily, onto a wrong host plant. Also confusion with Coleophora violacea cannot be excluded.

phenology

Most larvae are full-grown in autumn (Emmet ao, 1996a).

BENELUX

BE recorded (Coenen ao, 1984a; Phegea, 2009).

NE recorded (Kuchlein & de Vos, 1999a; Microlepidoptera.nl, 2009).

LUX not recorded (Fauna Europaea, 2009).

distribution within Europe

From Fennoscandia to the Pyrenees, and from Ireland to Poland (Fauna Europaea, 2009).

larva

references

Arbeitsgemeinschaft Microlepidoptera in Bayern (2013a), Baldizzone & van der Wolf (2000a), Coenen, De Prins & Henderickx (1984a), Corley, Merckx, Cardoso ao (2012a), Doets (1946a), Emmet, Langmaid, Bland ao (1996a), Hering (1957a), Huisman, Koster, van Nieukerken & Ellis (2007a), Huisman, Koster, van Nieukerken & Ulenberg (2004a, 2005a), Kuchlein & Donner (1993a), Kuchlein & de Vos (1999a), Pastorális, Kosorín, Tokár ao (2018a), Patzak (1974a), De Prins (2010a), De Prins & Steeman (2011a), Robbins (1991a), Sauter & Whitebread (2005a), Sønderup (1949a), Steeman & Sierens (2018a), Suire (1961a), Toll (1962a), Zoerner (1970a).