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Composite Leaf Casebearers

A Coleophora sp. - Coleophora pruniella Coleophora case on willow stem - Coleophora salicivorella Coleophora kalmiella - male Cherry Casebearer Moth - Coleophora pruniella - female Coleophora cornivorella - female Coleophora kalmiella cases on kalmia leaves - Coleophora kalmiella Cherry Casebearer Moth - Coleophora pruniella Coleophoridae, Cherry Casebearer Moth - Coleophora pruniella
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Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)
Superfamily Gelechioidea (Twirler Moths and kin)
Family Coleophoridae (Casebearer Moths)
Subfamily Coleophorinae
Genus Coleophora
No Taxon Composite Leaf Casebearers
Numbers
At least 14 species. (1)
Food
Most feed on leaves of woody plants; at least two species feed on leaves of herbaceous plants, and Coleophora cretaticostella feeds on buds of Rubus. (1)
Remarks
Larvae construct their cases of leaf pieces reinforced with silk. As they grow, they enlarge their cases by neatly wrapping additional leaf sheets around the anterior end and gluing them down with silk. (2)