Coleophora serinipennella Christoff, 1872
 (one synonym: Coleophora stefanii J. de Joannis, 1899)
COLEOPHORIDAE,   GELECHIOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Coleophora serinipennella
(Photo: courtesy of Igor Balashov, Odessa, Ukraine)

The Caterpillars of this species have been found living in variably shaped galls on

  • Mediterranean Saltbush ( Atriplex halimus, AMARANTHACEAE ), and
  • Purslane ( Halimione species, CHENOPODIACEAE ).

    Coleophora serinipennella
    (Photo: courtesy of Christian Wieser, Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, University of Guelph)

    The adult moths have off-white forewings, each with a dark dash near the middle. The hindwings are plain off-white. The head and thorax are off-white. The moths have a wingspan of about 2 cms.

    The species has been found across Europe, north Africa, and Asia, including

  • Algeria,
  • Sicily,
  • Spain,
  • Ukraine,

    as well as in Australia in

  • Western Australia,
  • Queensland,
  • New South Wales, and
  • South Australia.

    Other junior synonyms include Coleophora pudica Lower, 1905, and Plutella ochroneura Lower, O.B. 1897.

    Further reading:

    Giorgio Baldizzone,
    A taxonomic review of the Coleophoridae (Lepidoptera) of Australia,
    Tijdschrift voor entomologie,
    Volume 139, Number 2 (1996) pp. 97-144.

    H. Christoff,
    Horae Societatis Entomologicae Rossicae,
    Volume IX (1872), p 31.

    J. de Joannis,
    Note sur une espèce nouvelle de Coleophora provenant de Sicile,
    Bulletin de la Société Entomologique de France,
    1899, pp. 331-333.

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    (written 29 July 2019, updated 11 April 2024)