Coleophora saponariella (Lepidoptera: Coleophoridae), a new species 
for the Belgian fauna 
Chris Snyers, Guido De Prins, Jean-Yves Baugnée & Nicolas Vereecken 
Abstract. On the 4th of October 2009, several mines and cases of Coleophora saponariella Heeger, 1848 were found on 
Common Soapwort (Saponaria officinalis) at De Panne (province of West-Flanders). It was the first mention of this species in 
Belgium. In 2010 the species was found again in the same locality and several cases were bred to adults. It appears that C. 
saponariella has a permanent population in "De Westhoek" with three generations per year. In 2012, the species was also 
discovered at Rochefort (province of Namur). It is distributed in the whole of Europe and is sometimes very common. 
Samenvatting. Coleophora saponariella (Lepidoptera: Coleophoridae), een nieuwe soort voor de Belgische fauna 
Op 04 oktober 2009 werden op Zeepkruid (Saponaria officinalis) enkele mijnen en kokers van Coleophora saponariella Heeger, 
1848 gevonden te De Panne (West-Vlaanderen). Het is de eerste keer dat deze soort uit België gemeld wordt. In 2010 werd 
deze soort op dezelfde vindplaats terug gevonden. Zij blijkt in de Westhoek dus een vaste populatie te hebben en door 
uitkweken werd vastgesteld dat er drie generaties per jaar voorkomen. In 2012 werd C. saponariella ook te Rochefort (Namen) 
aangetroffen. De soort is verspreid in heel Europa en soms zeer talrijk. 
Résumé. Coleophora saponariella (Lepidoptera: Coleophoridae), une espèce nouvelle pour la faune beige 
Le 04 octobre 2009, des mines et fourreaux larvaires de Coleophora saponariella Heeger, 1848 ont été observés sur Saponaire 
officinale (Saponaria officinalis) a De Panne (prov. Flandre Occidentale). II s'agit de la première mention de cette espèce en 
Belgique. En 2010 l'espèce fut observée dans la même localité et des adultes ont été obtenus en élevage. II apparait que C. 
saponariella présente une population permanente dans la réserve naturelle du Westhoek, avec trois générations par an. En 
2012, l'espèce fut aussi observée a Rochefort, dans la province de Namur. Elle est largement distribuée en Europe et parfois 
trés commune. 
Key words: Coleophora saponariella - Belgium - Faunistics - First record 
Snyers C.: Rendierstraat 14/2, B-2610 Wilrijk, bladmineerders.be@gmail.com 
De Prins G.: Markiezenhof 32 , B-2170 Merksem/Antwerpen. guido.deprins@telenet.be 
Baugnée J.-Y.: Service Public de Wallonië - DEMNA, 22 avenue de la Faculté, B-5030 Gembloux. jybaugnee@gmail.com 
Vereecken N.: rue du thiers 41, B-5580 Rochefort. nicolas.vereecken@ulb.ac.be 
Introduction 
On the 4th of October 2009, several blotch mines and 
cases of a Coleophora species were found on Common 
Soapwort, Saponaria officinalis, at De Panne (prov. West- 
Flanders, Belgium), by several members of the 
Workgroup Leafminers. Later on, the species was 
identified by the first author as Coleophora saponariella 
Heeger, 1848, a new species for the Belgian fauna (De 
Prins & Steeman 2013). 
The cases were kept in small containers and 
hibernated, but no imagos emerged. During spring and 
early summer of 2010, more searches were conducted in 
several localities along the coast, looking for tracés of 
this species on soapwort. There were, however, no new 
findings. 
On 31st of July 2010, the same locality in De Panne 
was visited where the cases were found the year before. 
It became soon clear that the species was still present. 
On 1 out of 4 plants blotch mines were discovered, but 
no cases were present, except for one full-grown case 
that was broken open, found on a mine that was recently 
made. Apart from that, a leaf with three galleries from 
which the frass was pushed out, was discovered. On 4th 
October 2010 two full-grown cases and 1 young case 
were found. The species was again met with in 2011 
when on 14th May many small cases were seen, 
sometimes about 10 per leaf. 
Several mines and six young cases of C. saponariella 
were recently discovered at Rochefort (prov. Namur) on 
6 August. 2012, by the third author (Fig. 5). They stand on 
a tuft of Saponaria officinalis from N. Vereecken's 
garden, at less than 200 m from the river Lomme. The 
soapwort has been installed there for many years by the 
previous owner. It is possible that C. saponariella was 
already present before our observations. On 23 
September 2012, a mature case was observed at the 
same site by N. Vereecken himself (Fig. 6). 
Description of the species 
The imago (Figs. 7, 8) is ochreous brown with several 
light longitudinal stripes on the fore wings. The wing 
span is around 11 mm. The egg is pale green. The 
caterpillars are yellowish green (Fig. 1). The cases are 
initially straw coloured (Fig. 4), but after reaching around 
5 mm in length they become dark grey with black 
longitudinal stripes. When the Caterpillar is full-grown, it 
lives in a straight three-valved silken case of about 7 mm 
long. Towards the head, the case becomes granular with 
remains of the host plant. The mouth angle reaches 70°- 
80° (Fig. 2). For a detailed description, see Heeger (1848: 
342-347, pl. 6). 
ISSN 0771-5277 
Phegea 41 (3) 01.ix.2013: 69 
