Vulnerable (proposed as a future Red Data Book species) in field edges, scrubland and grassy slopes in parts of south-eastern England, where first recorded in Surrey in 1847 and later found in several south-eastern counties; today it is probably restricted to Essex and Kent (MBGBI Vol 3). Not recorded in Hampshire or on the Isle of Wight to date. Wingspan 13-17.5 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 Common Knapweed, living within a movable case.