On the case of Coleophora serratella

Added: 2026-05-13

[00:00:04]The leaves haven't been out on the silver birches here at Clifton Old Quarter for very long, probably only a fortnight or so, really, but already things are starting to eat them.

[00:00:15]And the first of the year's Coleophora already making good headway on the leaves of this silver birch.

[00:00:45]If you're out and about, especially on heathland or any woodland containing a decent amount of birch, have a look out for this particular Coleophora.

[00:00:56]This is the larva and larval case of Coleophora serratella.

[00:01:00]It's quite a distinct Coleophora and one of our commonest, too, if not the commonest that we have in the Sherwood Forest area and most Nottinghamshire woodlands.

[00:01:12]It's very common. And this time of year, late April, larva are starting to form new cases and you can see how a case has been taken out from that leaf on the left-hand side. There's a small sort of semi-circular cut-out, but that's actually a strip that this larva has bitten off and with silk created this case. And the name serratella is derived from the fact that because the larva uses the edge of the leaf, it always has that serrated edge-like surface dorsally.

[00:01:51]But you can see where the larva's been eating. It feeds underneath the leaves and this one we can see here is in the process of creating another blotch.

[00:02:02]But, lots of these are around now if you're anywhere near birch.

[00:02:11]And here's the characteristic feeding damage done to silver birch leaves by the larva of Coleophora serratella. While there are other Coleophoras that do feed on birch, the one that you're most likely to encounter will be the larval case and larva of Coleophora serratella. The moth is dark gray, quite dull and uninteresting, but rather typical of many a Coleophora, to be honest. But, these are the feeding signs. You can see there the larva has fed from underneath. It's not present in this instance or any of these four instances, but normally you would turn it over and the larval case would be attached to one of those patches there.

[00:02:57]So, it's a very easy Coleophora to go out and find.

[00:03:04]Well, I'm finding these Coleophora serratella cases very easily.

[00:03:11]The feeding signs are so conspicuous.

[00:03:14]This case is slightly different, though.

[00:03:15]It doesn't show that serrated top edge.

[00:03:22]So, presumably this case has been formed off another part of the leaf, probably right at the very base of the leaf.

[00:03:40]And here's another sign of Coleophora serratella.

[00:03:46]You may have already have seen that there is an active case underneath.

[00:03:53]And the case dorsally having those serrated edges.

[00:04:01]And the case is nearly a centimeter long.

[00:04:06]So, it's not a tiny case by any means.

[00:04:11]One which you'll probably have little trouble in finding.