Tiny little beastie - any ideas?

[jennyb]

I found this little chap on my bedroom windowsill. He is really minute about 4mm (yes, millimetres) long and 1mm wide. I had seen it before on several occasions but had been unable to take a photo due to lack of decent equipment.

Santa brought me a lovely new macro lense so I managed to get these rather miserable photos (still have not got the hang of getting the depth of field right). Anyway, apologies for the quality, but does anyone have any idea what it is?





Thanks,

Jenny

[honeybee]

like a little caddis fly but not in water. Some sort of beetle larvae?

[Paul mabbott]

There are some moths that have cases as larvae - might be worth searching for them on Google images? There are some terrestrial caddis although, I think, only one in UK - Eniocyla pusilla which is a red databook species! Intriguing. Well done with the picture ....

[jennyb]

Thanks to both of you for your suggestions. I have done a bit of googling and it looks remarkably like caddis fly larva. However, the nearest water source is at least 150yds away and this was also found upstairs, so I would guess that it is not one of those.

Next I searched for case-bearing moths - the case-bearing Clothes Moth Tinea pellionella is more likely since it was found in a bedroom. However, the case of mine does not look anything like the cases of the clothes moth I found on Google. It would seem that the cases for both the caddis fly and the moths are made from any suitable material that comes to hand. Outside my bedroom window I have a Cotoneaster which climbs all the way up the wall. The case on my larva looks very like it came from the cotoneaster.

So....probably not a caddis fly, more likely to be a moth (but probably not a clothes moth) - one with a penchant for cotoneaster!

I wish I had watched it for a bit longer. I will try to get better pictures next time. Any more suggestions would be welcome.

Jenny

[nightshade]

I do not suppose it could be a sawfly larva,nah I think you are right it looks very caddis like
well done with the images

[jennyb]

After googling larvae for the last couple of hours, I am now feeling very itchy!

I may have found it - Luffia ferchaultella - UKMoths - Luffia ferchaultella

Does anyone agree? If so, thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

Jenny

[Deer Stalker]

You could always try & see what it feeds on, then rear it & see what it turns into.

[Oscar2006]

Originally Posted by jennyb

After googling larvae for the last couple of hours, I am now feeling very itchy!

I may have found it - Luffia ferchaultella - UKMoths - Luffia ferchaultella

Does anyone agree? If so, thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

Jenny

I think you have got it nailed there jennyb. Good detective work, and congratulations on a rather special moth.

[honeybee]

Well done, says it's common but don't think I've ever seen one!

[jennyb]

Originally Posted by honeybee

Well done, says it's common but don't think I've ever seen one!

You probably would not notice it because it is so tiny. I only spotted it because it was on a white windowsill. Next time I must use a magnifying glass to take a better look.

Jenny