Coleophora wockeella Zeller, 1849

betony case-bearer

Coleophora wockeella case

from Toll (1962a)

case

Dark brown, bivalved, composite leaf case, about 10 mm long, and composed of 6-8 ringlets.

Hering (1957a) writes about the mouth angle that this is very sharp, causing the case to lie almost flat on the leaf. Suire (1961a) copies Hering’s drawing of the case, but attributes to it an angle of 45-50°. Also the mouth angle in Toll’s (1962a) illustration (above) is c. 45°. Finally Emmet ao (1996a) repeat Hering’s statement, write accordingly of an angle of 20°, but then present an otherwise splendid drawing of a case that with about 70° stands nearly vertically on the leaf.

host plants

Lamiaceae, monophagous

Stachys officinalis.

In the literature several more, widely divergent, hostplants are mentioned (Echium, Marrubium, Ranunculus acer, Salix); probably each case can be discounted as a larva that has strayed from its host plant.

phenology

Autumn till mid-May (Emmet ao, 1996a).

distribution within Europe

From Latvia to the Iberian Peninsula, Italy, and Albania, and from Britain to South Russia (Fauna Europaea, 2009). The species has been discovered in Belgium in 2018 (Guido De Prins, in litt.)

larva

Described by Suire (1961a).

references

Baldizzone (1979a, 2004a), Biesenbaum & van der Wolf (1999a), Buhr (1937a), Chalmers-Hunt & Emmet (1971a), Emmet, Langmaid, Bland ao (1996a), Hering (1936b, 1957a), Ivinskis & Savenkov (1991a), Nel (1992b), Patzak (1974a,b), Razowski (1990a), Robbins (1991a), Segerer & Grünewald (2013a), Suire (1961a), Szőcs (1977a, 1981a), Toll (1952a, 1962a).