Coleophora albitarsella is a moth

Moth

A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...

 of the Coleophoridae

Coleophoridae

| name = Case-bearers| image = Coleophoridae-01 .jpg| image_width = 240px| image_caption = Adult of an unidentified case-bearer species| regnum = Animalia| phylum = Arthropoda| classis = Insecta| ordo = Lepidoptera| superfamilia = Gelechioidea...

 family. It is found in most of Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, but has not been recorded from Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 and Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

.

The wingspan

Wingspan

The wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about ; and a Wandering Albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of , the official record for a living bird.The term wingspan, more technically extent, is...

 is 10-13 mm. Adults are on wing from mid June to August in western Europe.

The larvae feed on Clinopodium vulgare, Glechoma hederacea

Glechoma hederacea

Glechoma hederacea is an aromatic, perennial, evergreen creeper of the mint family Lamiaceae. It is commonly known as Ground-ivy, gill-over-the-ground or Creeping Charlie. It has numerous medicinal uses, and is commonly used as a tasty salad green in many countries...

, Lycopus europaeus, Melissa officinalis, Melittis melissophyllum

Melittis melissophyllum

Melittis melissophyllum, common name: the Bastard Balm, is a herbaceous perennial plant belonging to the genus Melittis of the Lamiaceae family. The name melittis of the genus derives from a Greek words Melissa or Melitta, meaning "honey bee" and refers to the properties of flowers of attracting...

, Mentha aquatica, Mentha arvensis

Mentha arvensis

Mentha arvensis is a species of mint with a circumboreal distribution. It is native to the temperate regions of Europe and western and central Asia, east to the Himalaya and eastern Siberia, and North America.It is a herbaceous perennial plant growing to 10–60 cm tall...

, Nepeta cataria

Nepeta cataria

Nepeta cataria is a plant in the Lamiaceae family. The common names can also be used to refer to the Nepeta genus as a whole.- Cultivation :...

, Orignanum vulgare, Prunella vulgaris

Prunella vulgaris

Prunella vulgaris, known as common selfheal, heal-all, heart-of-the-earth, is a medicinal plant in the genus Prunella. It grows 5 to 30 cms high , with creeping, self-rooting, tough, square, reddish stems branching at leaf axis...

, Salvia pratensis

Salvia pratensis

Salvia pratensis is a herbaceous perennial in the family Lamiaceae, native to Europe, western Asia and northern Africa. The specific epithet pratensis refers to its tendency to grow in meadows...

, Salvia verbenaca

Salvia verbenaca

Salvia verbenaca, also known as Wild Clary or Wild Sage, is native to the British Isles, the Mediterranean region in Southern Europe, North Africa, and Near East, and in the Caucasus. It can be found as an introduced species that has naturalized in meadows in the Eastern United States.S...

, Satureja, Stachys

Stachys

Stachys is one of the largest genera in the flowering plant family Lamiaceae. Estimates of the number of species in the genus vary from about 300, to about 450. The type species for the genus is Stachys sylvatica. Stachys is in the subfamily Lamioideae...

and Thymus

Thymus

The thymus is a specialized organ of the immune system. The thymus produces and "educates" T-lymphocytes , which are critical cells of the adaptive immune system....

species. They create a sheath case. The fully developed case is slender, shining black brown and about 9 mm long. Towards the end there is a narrow, transparent yellowish ventral keel. The mouth angle is 50-60°. Cases are located at the leaf underside. Full-grown larvae can be found in May.

Pupation takes place from May to early June in the case, usually attached to a hard surface such as a rock or post.