Glyphotaelius pellucidus

Description

Length 12 to 17 mm. A medium to large sized caddis fly with marbled brown and cream wings, although the patterning varies between male and female in this species. The forewings have a notched outer margin.

Identification difficulty
Habitat

Still water habitats, ponds and lakes, often in woodland or well wooded areas.

When to see it

Late April to June and August to October with a summer diapause.

Life History

This species breeds around still water such as ponds and lakes in which the larvae will build a case with pieces of dead leaves. The jelly coated egg mass, commonly known as "tree snot", is stuck to a leaf above the surface of the water, and when the eggs are ready to hatch they fall into the water beneath. The only other British species with a similar egg mass is Nemotaulius punctatolineatus which is restricted to Highland blanket bogs (Wallace, I. (2003) The beginner’s guide to caddis (order Trichoptera). Bulletin of the Amateur Entomologists' Society, 62, 15-26). 

UK Status

Fairly frequent and widespread in Britain, though less common in Scotland.

VC55 Status

Fairly frequent in Leicestershire and Rutland.

Leicestershire & Rutland Map

MAP KEY:

Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2025+ | 2020-2024 | pre-2020

UK Map

Species profile

Species group:
Caddisflies
Kingdom:
Animalia
Order:
Trichoptera
Family:
Limnephilidae
Records on NatureSpot:
131
First record:
15/05/2010 (Calow, Graham)
Last record:
07/10/2024 (Andy Johnson)

Total records by month

% of records within its species group

10km squares with records

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