Coleophora frischella (Linnaeus, 1758)
Frisch's Clover Moth
 (previously known as Tinea frischella)
COLEOPHORIDAE,   GELECHIOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley


(Photo: courtesy of Marko Mutanen)

This Caterpillar lives in a portable case constructed of silk and detritus. The caterpillar feeds on the seeds of

  • Strawberry Clover ( Trifolium fragiferum, FABACEAE ).


    listed as Adela frischella,
    engraved by Charles Edward Wagstaff, coloured by Joseph Standish, for Curtis,
    British Entomology, 1833, Plate 463,
    image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Smithsonian Libraries.

    The adult moths are actually black, but have a yellow metallic sheen., except that the forewing tips are actually yellow. The moths have a wingspan of about 1 cm. Their antennae also each have a length of about 1 cm.

    The species has been found in the northern hemisphere, including

  • Canada,
  • Finland,
  • United Kingdom,

    as well as in Australia in

  • Tasmania.

    The species is thought to have been introduced into Australia accidentally. However, the moth is superficially similar to the deliberately introduced species Coleophora alcyonipennella, and is most easily distingished by noting that the antennae are about as long as the forewings in Coleophora frischella. whereas the antennae are notably shorter than the forewings in Coleophora alcyonipennella.

    Further reading :

    John Curtis,
    British Entomology,
    Volume 6 (1833), p. 463.

    Carl Linnaeus,
    Insecta Lepidoptera,
    Systema Naturae,
    Volume 1, Edition 10 (1760), Class 5, Part 3, p. 541, No. 289.

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    (updated 17 October 2013, 27 January 2025)