A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife
Project Noah Nature School
Sialis lutaria
They have a stocky body with a black or dark brown basic coloration, including head and legs. The wings are grayish, membranous and translucent, with pronounced dark venation. At the rest they are hold roof-like over their body. Adults can reach 20 mm of length and can mostly be encountered from May through June on vegetation near slow-flowing streams or close to ponds. The adults are bad fliers and never leave the waters where the larvae have developed. The flat larvae reach approximately 17 mm. They are aquatic predators of small invertebrates and usually wait for their preys in silt or under stones just emerging from the water. The life cycle in this species lasts about one-two years, but the adults live two-three days only, without feeding.
According to Wikipedia it is mainly present in Austria, Belgium, United Kingdom, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Poland, Romania and Switzerland but Croatian version mentioned it presence here too.
Spotted on Apr 15, 2013
Submitted on Apr 15, 2013
1 Comment
Nice series Andrea! You might like to make photo 3 the main image as that one shows the insect the most clearly. You can change the order in edit by dragging & dropping images.