Hantsmoths

Nationally scarce (Na) on Ploughman's Spikenard on dry downland and Common Fleabane in damp meadows, formerly in small colonies from Surrey to Caernarvonshire, but in recent years known only from south-east Hampshire, West Sussex and Herefordshire. In Hampshire restricted to Botley Wood and Portsea and Hayling Islands; on the Isle of Wight, and in North Hampshire, there have been no recent records. Wingspan 13-16.5 mm. Like many of the Coleophora, imagines are virtually impossible to identify without recourse to dissection, and the larvae, which live in cases of characteristic form and which can sometimes be found on the foodplant, may be easier to identify by comparison against a reference collection. Larva mines leaves of Ploughman's-spikenard and Common Fleabane, living within a movable case, over-wintering twice. Because of the biennial cycle, adults are likely to be found only in alternate years (MBGBI Vol 3).