Sigara venusta is a species of clear running water and pools, which may be either acidic or alkaline.

The map is based on records from NBN Gateway, with yellow dots showing pre 1990 records, reds dots 1990 – 2015 records and red on yellow dots overlapping records. S. venusta  is local, but widespread, with a discontinuous distribution due to its apparent absence from the Midlands. It is rare in Ireland, with four post 1989 records (three from the north and one from the south).

Although many species of Sigara may look similar at first glance, a combination of the following characters will generally be sufficient for identification: the length, the number of pale lines on the pronotum (and sometimes the shape of the pronotum) the pattern of dark and light lines on the forewing, the structure of the male pala (see below) and the shape of the metasternal xiphus (see below). Sigara venusta is one of the smaller species of Corixidae, being 4.5 – 6.0 mm in lenght. It has 5-6 pales lines on the pronotum, an equilateral xiphus and a male pala with a sinuate line of inner pegs and a short outer row (see below).

                               Male pala                                          Metasternal xiphus