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Sticker of Small yellow sally
Bug card No. 3946 of 4,939

Small yellow sally

Siphonoperla torrentium
Eats: Nectar and pollenOther insectsPonds, rivers and shores6 legs

The small yellow sally is a little stonefly that grows up in streams and small rivers. Its young live underwater and hunt other tiny animals. The grown-ups have wings and nibble pollen.

Lives in
Most of Europe and also North America, near streams and small rivers
Length
5 to 8 mm (0.2 to 0.31 in)
Wingspan
1.4 to 1.8 cm (0.54 to 0.69 in)
Top speed
about 4.1 km/h (2.5 mph)
Flying, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It cannot bite or sting.
What does it eat?
The grown-ups eat pollen. Their young live in streams and hunt other tiny water animals.
For real!Photo of Small yellow sally
Picture by Hectonichus. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

Small yellow sally about 8 mm long (0.31 in)A grain of rice about 6 mm (0.24 in)A toy building brick about 3.2 cm (1.3 in)

How wide are its wings?

Small yellow sally wings about 1.8 cm tip to tip (0.69 in)A grain of rice about 6 mm (0.24 in)A toy building brick about 3.2 cm (1.3 in)A crayon about 9 cm (3.5 in)
small enough to sit on your fingernailcould fly across a whole football pitch in 92 secondsmoves 140 times its own body length every second

How big is Small yellow sally compared to YOU?

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How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

It has one new family each year, so it grows from egg to grown-up in a single year.

2

Its young are yellowish to light brown, covered in bristles, with dark spots on the head.

3

Its young breathe underwater without the feathery gills that many other water bugs have.

4

Females are a bit bigger than males, with wings that spread up to 17.5 millimetres.

you asked

Most asked questions about Small yellow sally

?What does the small yellow sally eat?

The grown-ups eat pollen, while the young hunt tiny animals in the water.

?Where does the small yellow sally live?

Near streams and small rivers in most of Europe and in North America.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Siphonoperla torrentium
Named by
Pictet, 1841
Group
Other insects
Family
Chloroperlidae
Classification
Insecta > Plecoptera > Chloroperlidae
Lives on
Europe, North America

Where the facts come from

  1. Siphonoperla torrentium (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by Hectonichus. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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More from the same group: Other insects

Also at home here: Ponds, rivers and shores

Honey jarfor grown-ups