Coleophora linosyridella new to Devon

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COLEOPHORA LINOSYRIDELLA FUCHS
(LEP.: COLEOPHORIDAE) DISCOVERED NEW TO DEVON ON
ASTER LINOSYRIS, A NEWLY RECORDED BRITISH FOODPLANT
1
R. J. HECKFORD AND ² S. D. BEAVAN
¹ Department of Life Sciences, Terrestrial Invertebrates Division, Natural History Museum,
Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD.
(Correspondence address: 67 Newnham Road, Plympton, Plymouth, Devon PL7 4AW.)
² The Hayes, Zeal Monachorum, Devon EX17 6DF.
Abstract
In 2013 we found larvae of Coleophora linosyridella Fuchs, 1880, feeding on Goldilocks Aster
Aster linosyris in Devon and reared moths. Hitherto, in the British Isles, the species had only
been known from Kent and Essex where the larval foodplant is Sea Aster Aster tripolium.
Key words: Lepidoptera, Coleophoridae, Coleophora linosyridella, Aster linosyris, new to
Devon, foodplant.
Introduction
Coleophora linosyridella Fuchs, 1880 was added to the British list by Heal & Uffen
(1981) from moths of both sexes reared in 1979 from 13 larval cases found by Heal
feeding on Sea Aster Aster tripolium on 1 June 1979 at Shellness, Leysdown-on-Sea,
Kent. In fact Heal had found four cases at the same site on 18 June 1978, but no moths
had emerged. The identification was made by G. Baldizzone of Italy from photographs
of the male and female genitalia sent to him by Dr K. Sattler of the Natural History
Museum, London.
Heal & Uffen record that the species was later discovered at another locality in
Kent, at Nagden, as well as at Canvey Island in Essex. They state that at all these sites
the larvae are restricted to young Sea Aster germinating at the drift line and so are
‘subject to infrequent inundation and have less danger of being swept away than in
the typical occurrence of mature Sea Aster’. They note that in mainland Europe the
larva feeds on Goldilocks Aster Aster linosyris (given as Crinitaria linosyris in their
paper), state that this is a rare plant of western coastal limestone cliffs in Britain and
rightly comment that its fauna has probably not been closely examined. Their paper
describes the larva, its case and the adult and provides figures of larval feeding, the
larval case and the male and female genitalia.
Emmet (1996. The Moths and Butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland Volume 3)
gives a fuller account of the species; figures of the larval case, adult and genitalia of
both sexes are also provided in that publication. He states that it is restricted to the
estuary of the River Thames where it occurs in both Kent and Essex. Although Emmet
asserts that “the foodplant is one frequently searched by microlepidopterists,” he
suggests that because cases were not discovered until 1978 the species was a recent
arrival in Britain and that a further extension of range is possible.
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Davis (2012: 14) accords it pRDB1 status, meaning that for the period 1980-2011
it has only been recorded from five or fewer 10 km squares. As far as we are aware
until 2013 it had not been found outside Kent and Essex.
Discovery in 2013
As Heal & Uffen (1981) state, Goldilocks Aster is a rare plant of western coastal
limestone cliffs in Britain. According to the distribution map for this plant in Preston,
Pearman & Dines (2002: 641) it occurs in three places in Wales and four in England
and nowhere else in the British Isles. The text states that the distribution is stable but
some populations are very small. Three of the sites are in south-west England: one in
the Berry Head, Brixham area of South Devon and two in North Somerset.
At the end of June 2012 RJH found what looked like old mines in the leaves of
Goldilocks Aster growing in the Berry Head area. Each mine had a small round hole
at one end which appeared to be the work of a Coleophora species, but no cases could
be found. The plant flowers from late August to early September (Plate 1). A visit to
the area in early September that year showed, sometimes with the aid of binoculars,
that plants, then in flower, were more widely distributed than shown by the June visit,
but most were in inaccessible places on the edge of the cliffs.
On 22 May 2013 we visited the site where RJH had found the mined leaves the
previous year. This is close to the cliff edge but not particularly hazardous. We found
a number of cases, most apparently of full size, about 9 mm long, with a few smaller
cases about 5 mm long. The plants were no taller than the surrounding vegetation (Plate
2) and grew in two fairly small areas. When not in flower it is very difficult to locate
because the leaves are long and narrow and very similar to those of Common Toadflax
Linaria vulgaris and Sea Plantain Plantago maritima amongst which it grows there.
The case of Coleophora linosyridella is very similar to those of C. trochilella
(Duponchel) and C. ramosella Zeller. The larva of C. trochilella feeds on several plant
species both in the British Isles and mainland Europe, but not Goldilocks Aster. That
of C. ramosella occurs on Goldenrod Solidago virgaurea and Daisy Bellis perennis in
the British Isles but also on Goldilocks Aster in mainland Europe. We did not find cases
on Yarrow Achillea millefolium, one of the foodplants of C. trochilella, that grew
nearby, and so suspected that we had discovered either C. linosyridella or C. ramosella.
As both are accorded pRDBI status by Davis (2012) we collected only five cases.
On 28 May RJH went to a more hazardous area about 100 m away where the plants
were more common, but curiously found no cases or signs of feeding.
The first moth, a female, emerged on 20 June 2013. We decided to return two of the
cases and did this during the early evening of 29 June. It was warm and still and we
wondered if we would observe adults. None was flying and even when we gently ran
our hands over the foodplant none was disturbed. We then tried using a bee-smoker
which resulted in about half a dozen moths emerging from the vegetation. They looked
similar to the one that we had reared. Most appeared to be female but we retained one
that was clearly a male. The moths readily returned to the cover of the vegetation where
they remained without flying. On 8 and 15 July respectively female and male moths
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Plate 1. Goldilocks Aster Aster linosyris in flower.
Photograph © R. J. Heckford.
Plate 2. Leaves of Goldilocks Aster Aster linosyris in mixed vegetation.
© R. J. Heckford.
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emerged from the two cases that had been retained. All the moths had wingspans of
12-13 mm, within the range of 11.5-13.5 mm given by Emmet (1996: 295).
Dissection of both females and a male showed that they were Coleophora
linosyridella, the genitalia agreeing with the figures of both sexes in Heal & Uffen
(1981) and Razowski (1996: 174, fig. 51 (b) ♂; 200, fig. 77 (d) ♀) as well as the
photographs of the genitalia of both sexes provided by Jäckh (1957) of moths reared
from Goldilocks Aster in Germany.
We visited the site again 28 August 2013 and disturbed a very worn female
Coleophora species having a wingspan of only 9 mm. This also proved to be C.
linosyridella on dissection.
Observations on the larvae
Emmet (1996: 295) observes that the larva, on Sea Aster, starts feeding at the end of
August and that the smaller leaves higher up on the plant are preferred in September,
but when feeding recommences in May the larva usually eats small leaves partially
concealed by grass. The mines are mainly on the leaf margin.
So far we have only observed larvae in late May. The plants on which they fed were
partially concealed by other plants. The leaves of Goldilocks Aster have a distinct
mid-rib. The larval mine is straight and never crosses the mid-rib, but the larva will
often mine either side of the mid-rib and usually feed on several leaves and probably
more than one plant.
Heal & Uffen (1981) observed that the cases on Sea Aster readily drop off the plants.
Those that we found did not.
In captivity the larvae were offered not only leaves of Goldilocks Aster but also
Sea Aster and Goldenrod. No larva ate the latter, one ate both Goldilocks Aster and
Sea Aster and the others only ate Goldilocks Aster.
Attempts to find Coleophora linosyridella in Somerset
As mentioned earlier, Goldilocks Aster is known from two sites in North Somerset.
One is on the coast at Brean Down, the other is about 600 m inland at Uphill. We
visited both sites on 29 August 2013. Although we had eight-figure grid references
we failed to find the plant at Brean Down where it is apparently confined to a steep
part of the cliff and is visible from below at high tide but not easily accessible. We
did find several plants at Uphill, but found no cases or signs of feeding.
Discussion
It seems remarkable that the larvae of Coleophora linosyridella feed on plants in two
quite different habitats, one not subject to tidal elements, but there appear to be no
genitalic differences between those reared from Goldilocks Aster and those from Sea
Aster.
Emmet (1996: 295-296) is no doubt right in his reason for suggesting that the
species is a recent arrival in the estuary of the River Thames. Although Goldilocks
Aster in the Berry Head area has probably not previously been looked at by
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microlepidopterists, it seems very unlikely that it is a recent arrival. The chance of an
immigrant female moth finding the small area of foodplant seems extremely remote.
Thus we suspect that here it is a long-term, overlooked, resident.
The foodplant is not tolerant of competition and there is a danger of scrub
encroachment. We shall liaise with relevant interested bodies to try to ensure that
appropriate management is in place.
It remains to be seen whether Coleophora linosyridella will be found at other
localities with Goldilocks Aster. The fact that it does not occur in apparently suitable
habitat within 100 m of where we found it and that we did not see evidence of it at
Uphill might be an indication that it has extremely specific requirements and so, on
this foodplant, might be limited to just this one site.
As far as we are aware, this is the first time that the larva of any species of
Lepidoptera has been found feeding on Goldilocks Aster in England and Wales.
References
Davis, A. M., 2012. A Review of the Status of Microlepidoptera in Britain. Butterfly Conservation,
Wareham. Butterfly Conservation Report no. S12-02.
Emmet, A. M., 1996. Coleophoridae. In Emmet, A. M. (Ed.), The Moths and Butterflies of Great
Britain and Ireland. Volume 3. pp. 126-338. Harley Books.
Fuchs, A., 1880. Coleophora linosyridella, eine neue Art aus dem unteren Rheingau.
Entomologische Zeitung 41: 113-114.
Heal, N. F. & Uffen, R. W. J., 1981. Coleophora linosyridella Fuchs new to Britain. Proceedings
and Transactions of the British Entomological and Natural History Society 14: 98-100.
Jäckh, E., 1957. Eine weitere in Deutschland an Aster linosyris (L.) Bernh. lebende ColeophoraArt (Lep. Coleophoridae). Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift (N. F.) 4: 54-60.
Preston, C. D., Pearman, D. A. & Dines, T. D., 2002. New Atlas of the British & Irish Flora. Oxford
University Press.
Razowski, J., 1996. Coleophoridae (part). In Emmet, A. M. (Ed.), The Moths and Butterflies of
Great Britain and Ireland. Volume 3. pp. 126-338. Harley Books.
A long-forgotten lepidopterist
Ophelia Brown was one of our earliest female lepidopterists. Many details of her life
are lost in time, but apparently she was active around the beginning of the 19th
century. She lived in the little Hamlet of Ilver, long since swallowed up by the outskirts
of Slough. It was here that she discovered the first moth to bear her name, Brown’s
Ilver Line, previously overlooked as a pale form of Lead Belle (or more likely July
Belle, given the locality).
Her next important discovery was Brown’s Pot-pinion, which she found lurking
amongst the crockery in her scullery, feeding on a newly made batch of blackberry
jam. However, it is her final triumph that best reflects the diligence and commitment
she brought to her pursuit. One summer’s day she espied a moth floating upon the
surface of a reedy pool, a species she had never seen before. It was tantalisingly out
of reach. Not to be deterred, she grasped the overhanging branch of a buckthorn bush