Ecnomina zealandica

Wise's original text (the type description) reads as follows:

HEAD fuscous; ANTENNAE ochraceous. THORAX fuscous, LEGS ochraceous. ANTERIOR WING light fuscous, fringe darker. VENATION. In anterior wing apical forks 3 and 4 sessile, the median cell extending between them. In posterior wing apical fork 3 about as long as its footstalk. Length of anterior wing, 3.5 mm (0.14 in).^[3]

Wise noted that the species could be distinguished from Australian Ecnomina species by the apical forks 3 and 4 of the anterior wing being sessile and not stalked.^[3] The larvae are 4.8 mm (0.19 in) in length.^[4]

The species is endemic to New Zealand.^[3] While specimens have primarily been collected from the Auckland Region and Waikato Region, the species' range is likely wider.^[4][5] It has been described as one of the rarest caddisflies in New Zealand,^[6] with no observations of the adults of the species between the 1940s and 2002, when specimens began to be identified in Malaise traps.^[7] Drinan et al. (2020) speculate that the species' rarity may point to a behavioural difference in the species, such as being diurnal, or not being attracted to ultraviolet light.^[7]

Larvae of E. zealandica have been collected from Fissidens moss from stream banks.^[4]