Hydroptila sparsa
A very small micro caddis that is a dark brown or maroon-brown slightly marked or banded with pale cream. The wings are very narrow, pointed and extremely hairy.
Often seen scuttling over waterside rocks and plants.
May to September.
Breeds in still or running water. Larva is naked until final instar when it makes a silken, sausage shaped chamber coated with fine sand grains.
Most British records come from central and southern England and from Wales.
Uncommon or under recorded in VC55 - First records for this species in Leicestershire and Rutland came from Stoneygate in the 1980s but it does not seem to have been recorded again until the Sapcote record in 2011.
Graham Calow
Sapcote garden1
18 June 2013
female - specimen examined
Graham Calow
Sapcote garden1
23 August 2011
female - specimen examined
Graham Calow
Sapcote garden1
09 June 2014
female - specimen examined
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Species profile
- Species group:
- insect - caddis fly (Trichoptera)
- Kingdom:
- Animalia
- Order:
- Trichoptera
- Family:
- Hydroptilidae
- Records on NatureSpot:
- 4
- First record:
- 23/08/2011 (Calow, Graham)
- Last record:
- 21/06/2025 (Poole, Adam)
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% of records within its species group
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Graham Calow
Sapcote garden1
18 June 2013
female - specimen examined
