Friday, 17 April 2015

Micro Tip - Coleophora juncicolella

Micro-moth field tips: Coleophora juncicolella. This tiny Coleophora makes a beautifully detailed and well disguised case. With a case of only 4mm in length, the only real chance of seeing it is to beat or sweep some heather. This should dislodge lots of small pieces of heather. I found this one by beating the heather into an upturned umbrella at Lindow Moss, Wilmslow on 15.4.15. After a minute or two of careful observation, a piece of the heather started to walk about! Alternatively, put the contents of the sweeping or beating into a clear container and wait for the Coleophora larvae to walk up the side of the container.
Ben Smart.
Posted by at

2 comments:

  1. GMT21 April 2015 at 13:38

    I've had success with this method on the moorlands of the Black Mountains (Monmouthshire/Breconshire) - it seems a widespread but overlooked species. There's always a chance of C. pyrrhulipennella too, with its much more striking shiny black larval case. But this seems to be a scarcer species and possibly restricted to lowland heathland.

    George

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ina21 April 2015 at 16:54

    I'm hoping Ben's photography will inspire a few people to have a go themselves and not think micros are too hard.
    Although it can be a needle & haystack job sometimes the sight of Ben with his 'spotted umbrella' is enough to inspire anyone. ;-)
    Ina

    ReplyDelete

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)