Common in freshwater margins, woodland, bogs and fens throughout much of the British Isles, except for the extreme north of Scotland and the Orkney and Shetland Islands. In Hampshire and on the Isle of Wight common and widespread, especially in the south of the county. Wingspan 10-13.5 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 Sallow, Willow, Osier, Bog-myrtle and Birch, living within a movable case.