7 August 2026

Three More New Micromoths

At first glance, the Clover Case-bearer (Coleophora alcyonipennella) most resembles an elongated piece of dirt. It’s a tiny smidge of a moth, with a wing span of only 10.5 to 12.5 mm, and appears an unremarkable dark grey color until it moves into the sun and lights up with bronze–flecked emerald iridescence. The species name alcyonipennella, meaning ‘kingfisher–winged,’ makes a lot more sense when you see it in this light.

Micromoths of the Coleophora genus are almost impossible to tell apart without dissection or a specimen of the pupal case, and this one is very similar to both C. deauratella and C. frischella but the one I photographed didn’t seem to have the projecting basal scales on its antennae that would make it the former.

As the name suggests, this moth’s larvae feed mainly on white clover in a variety of grassy habitats. They build well–hidden cases within the plant’s florets that are practically impossible to find on the flower-head, but larvae can be collected from browning clovers when they begin to pupate.

Aesthes smeathmanniana is a shell–like white adorned with a few leathery brown markings and a fringe on its wing ends. The genus means ‘unusual or strange,’ apparently because its color scheme is uncommon for moths of the Tortricidae family, while its mouthful of a species name is after the British entomologist H. Smeathman. It’s widespread in Yorkshire and feeds on the seedheads of yarrow and knapweed in grasslands, coastal cliffs and quarries, like the one our wild garden inhabits!

The Chequered Fruit-tree Tortrix (Pandemis corylana) resembles one of our known species, the Barred Fruit-tree Tortrix (Pandemis cerasana), but has a much more apparent pattern of slim, net–like brown bands and begins its flight season at least a month later. It feeds on an array of deciduous trees and shrubs, such as Hazel, oaks, Bramble and Honeysuckle, and is sometimes considered a pest insect in cultivated fruit and nut orchards.

In the latter half of our moth–collecting season, our traps have been slowly taken over by the Ruby Tiger (Phragmatobia fuliginosa) and the Mother of Pearl (Pleuroptya ruralis). Though in the past they’ve been less common visitors, I’ve counted at least five individuals of each in our last few traps, and the Mother of Pearl often feels like it numbers in the dozens. The Ruby Tiger has been gradually increasing its presence in Yorkshire over recent years, perhaps due to increasing temperatures and the resulting milder winters and longer breeding seasons. The Mother of Pearl has never really been rare in Yorkshire, but it’s flocking to Shandy Hall in elevated numbers this year. It doesn’t look like it, but it’s actually considered a micromoth, and is one of the most common found in Yorkshire!