#trichoptera

[transparentfossil]

Fossil Caddisfly (Trichoptera) In Baltic Amber

[onenicebugperday]

Blue net-spinning caddisfly, Polymorphanisus elisabethae, Hydropsychidae, Trichoptera

Found in Sub-Saharan Africa

Photo 1 by stefaneakame and 2 by thijsvalkenburg

[bestanimal]

Round 3 - Insecta - Trichoptera

(Sources - 1, 2, 3, 4)

Order: Trichoptera

Common Name: “caddisflies”

Families: 45 - Arctopsychidae (Arctopsychid “net-spinning caddisflies”), Dipseudopsidae, Ecnomidae, Hydropsychidae (Hydropsychid “net-spinning caddisflies”), Polycentropodidae (“tube maker caddisflies”), Psychomyiidae (“net tube caddisflies”), Xiphocentronidae, Philopotamidae (“fingernet caddisflies”), Stenopsychidae, Atriplectididae, Calamoceratidae, Kokiriidae, Leptoceridae (“long-horned caddisflies”), Limnocentropodidae, Molannidae, Odontoceridae (“mortarjoint casemaker caddisflies”), Philorheithridae, Apataniidae (“early smoky wing sedges”), Brachycentridae (“humpless casemaker caddisflies”), Goeridae (“armour-ballast caddisflies”), Lepidostomatidae (“bizarre caddisflies”), Limnephilidae (“northern caddisflies”), Oeconescidae, Pisuliidae (“triangle caddisflies”), Rossianidae, Uenoidae (“stonecase caddisflies”), Phryganeidae (“giant casemaker caddisflies”), Plectrotarsidae, Phryganopsychidae, Anomalopsychidae, Antipodoeciidae, Barbarochthonidae (“barbarian tusk caddisflies”), Beraeidae, Calocidae, Chathamiidae (“marine caddisflies”), Conoesucidae, Helicophidae, Helicopsychidae (“spiral caddisflies”), Hydrosalpingidae, Petrothrincidae (“limpet caddisflies”), Sericostomatidae (“bushtailed caddisflies”), Tasimiidae, Hydroptilidae (“microcaddisflies”), Rhyacophilidae, and Hydrobiosidae

Anatomy: aquatic larvae are long and roughly cylindrical, with six pairs of tracheal gills on the underside of the abdomen; in case-bearing species, the heads are armored while the abdomen is soft; mouthparts are adapted for biting and chewing; larvae use silk to make protective cases, which are often strengthened with gravel, sand, twigs, bitten-off pieces of plants, or other debris; the pupa is aquatic, has functional mandibles (to cut out out through the case), gills, and swimming legs; adults have two pairs of hairy, membranous wings; long, threadlike antennae; reduced mouthparts

Diet: depending on species, larvae may feed on smaller invertebrates, plant matter, algae, or be filter feeders; most do not feed as adults

Metamorphosis: holometabolous

Habitat: aquatic larvae are found worldwide (except in Antarctica) in freshwater and marine shoreline habitats; adults found terrestrially, but nearby where they emerged from

Evolved in: Triassic

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Aquatic caddisfly larvae are most well-known for making their own shelter out of silk and substrate. Integripalpian larvae construct a portable casing to protect themselves as they move around looking for food, while annulipalpian larvae make themselves a fixed retreat in which they remain, waiting for food to come to them. The larvae exhibit various feeding strategies, with different species being predators, leaf shredders, algal grazers, or filter feeders.

Like other “net-spinning caddisflies”, larvae of the Hydropsychids will construct silken nets at the open ends of their dwellings, to catch food. When individuals abandon, or become dislodged from, their retreats, they must build or seize a new retreat. Homeless hydropsychid larvae will sometimes search out retreats currently occupied by another member of their species. This can result in a confrontation between individuals, each vying for ownership of an established retreat. These larvae are capable of performing a defensive, squeaky stridulation sound to dissuade other hydropsychids from attempts to steal their retreats. This noise is made by running their femurs across ridges on the undersides of their heads. Stridulating warns foes that a retreat is occupied and attempting to enter is unwise.

Marine Caddisflies (family Chathamiidae) are unique among insects for being native to tide pool environments. Larvae construct their cases out of coralline (red) algae. The eggs of one marine caddisfly species (Philanisus plebeius) are laid inside starfish (Patiriella regularis in New Zealand and Patiriella exigua in Australia). Marine caddisflies can not survive in freshwater.

The casings of Helicopsychid (“spiral caddisfly”) larvae can sometimes be confused with snail shells, as they build spiraling casings out of mineral grains that, well, look exactly like snail shells.

Caddisflies are important bioindicators, as they are sensitive to water pollution, and are large enough to be assessed in the field. Their presence (or lack thereof) in a water source can indicate how clean the water is. Some species indicate undisturbed habitat, and some indicate degraded habitat. Although caddisflies may be found in waterbodies of varying qualities, species-rich caddisfly assemblages are generally thought to indicate clean water bodies, such as lakes, ponds, and marshes. Together with stoneflies and mayflies, caddisflies feature importantly in bioassessment surveys of streams and other water bodies.

The French artist Hubert Duprat is known for using caddisfly larvae in his work, supplying the insects with small precious stones like gold, opal, coral, sapphire, diamond, ruby, and turquoise with which to make their protective casings. Duprat collects the larvae from their normal environments and takes them to his studio. There he gently removes their own natural cases and puts the larvae in tanks filled with the precious stones, from which they begin to build their new protective sheaths (see gif above).

They’re just like… imagine if moths had aquatic caterpillars and also the aquatic caterpillars were sometimes carnivorous and made little houses. That’d be neat, right? But it’s real.

[crevicedwelling]

I was so happy to see one of my favorite examples of visual mimicry in Costa Rica! take a look at this Petrophila moth and a Nectopsyche caddisfly. notice anything familiar about the pattern they seem to share?

it’s the front view of a jumping spider! black round eyes in rows, and stripes for legs with gaps between them. the resemblance, especially seeing the mimics at actual size in person, is striking. both moth and caddisfly have a reflective white patch of scales around the eyes, making them seem reflective and alert.

jumpers are active visual predators, a threat to small insects but also to one another, and have good facial recognition skills for members of their taxonomic family who might be rivals or predators. it’s thought that a jumping spider, viewing a mimic, might be scared off or even consider it a rival and start a territorial display, giving the mimic time to flee.

many Petrophila and their relatives in the subfamily Acentropinae have the jumping spider patterns, and I saw a few species with varying degrees of spideriness. there’s a surprising amount of other arthropods that mimic jumpers, too, from planthoppers to cockroaches and even other jumping spiders with false eyes.

[thelordofologies]

Caddisflies - Trichoptera

@transpotato5 thank you for reminding me of this species ! ! And, @jettfisch, you might like these, considering you like bone collector caterpillars.

A/N: It is a bit of a short and chaotic post, this one, but yeah, I hope you will enjoy it :DD

Introduction

Caddisflies, or Trichoptera, are a group of insects with aquatic larvae and terrestrial adults.

Integripalpian larvae of caddisflies construct a portable casing to protect themselves as they move around looking for food, while annulipalpian larvae make themselves a fixed retreat in which they remain, waiting for food to come to them.

In this post, I will mostly highlight the suborder Integripalpia.

Examples of Case Building Caddisflies

Below you can see two members of the genus Neophylax, these are caddisflies who specifically belong to the family Uenoidae, who are more commonly called stonecase caddisflies.

On the left: Uenoid caddisfly larva, Neophylax mitchelli. On the right: Uenoid caddisfly larva, Neophylax consimilis.

However, I think they (caddisflies larvae) might be better known for aiding in creating the art of Hupert Duprat, a French artist. The casings made by these larvae are just gorgeous, at least in my opinion.

Duprat’s aquatic caddis fly larvae, with cases incorporating gold, pearls, and turquoise, among other materials.

Examples of Caseless Caddisflies

As gorgeous as case-building caddisfly larvae are, the caseless ones are rather gorgeous too. Take, for example, Rhyacophila fuscula, or green sedge caddisfly larvae, which have a gorgeous bright green colour.

Rhyacophila fuscula, or green sedge larvae.

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Note: in making this post some of my image sources are also my sources of information, so I merged these categories into one list of references.

Caddisflies in general

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caddisfly

Neophylax mitchelli

https://www.flickr.com/photos/aquaticinsects_of_central_virginia/8474949856/in/album-72157626065918557

Neophylax consimilis

https://www.flickr.com/photos/aquaticinsects_of_central_virginia/8353844437/in/album-72157626065918557

Art by Hupert Duprat (but, actually by the caddisflies)

https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2014/07/hubert-duprat-caddisflies

https://www.cabinetmagazine.org/issues/25/duprat.php

Green Sedge - Rhyacophila fuscula

https://www.troutnut.com/specimen/662

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhyacophila_fuscula#/media/File:Freeliving_caddisfly_larva,Rhyacophila_fuscula(27703171262).jpg

[dailybugfacts]

THE CADDISFLY PLEASE

their babies make rock shells with waterproof "glue":D

TELL PEOPLE OF THEM PLEASE I BEG OF YOU

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TODAY'S FACT IS

Did you know that Anisocentropus Krampus is a species of caddis fly found in New Britain, off the coast of Papua New Guinea? Originally described in 1994, no etymology was published regarding the species name however it was also described with two other newly (at the time) described species named after central European creatures of folklore (Count Dracula and the golem) so it is assumed that this one was named after the Krampus, the horned counterpart to Saint Nicholas who beats bad children with birch rods.

The main identifying feature of these caddis flies is its wings. The forewings are a golden yellow and the hindwings are pearlescent, both sets with unique patterns. Caddis fly larvae in general do make little homes for themselves. Whether or not their little homes can move is a factor in determining its suborder.

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[richards-fotowelt]

A Caddis Fly (Trichoptera) in Focus. 🔍

Did you know that the name Trichoptera comes from the Greek words for "hair" and "wing"? Unlike butterflies, their wings are covered in fine hairs.

This shot was one of my first experiences with a dedicated macro lens. I love how the emerald green background makes this little architect stand out.

Swipe/Click for details of the 'Trichoptera' (hair-wings)!

[jonnysinsectcatalogue]

Giant Casemaker Caddisfly - Ptilostomis ocellifera

With today's post, the blog has provided many of the large-winged, uncommon insects a good spotlight. Especially among the orders of Neuroptera (Lacewings) and Trichoptera (Caddisflies) whose finds can be hit and miss as the years go...unless you know where to look. Caddisfly find can come a bit easier if you look near water at the right time, this species very much included. With regards to this Giant Casemaker, it's the overall largest among all the Trichopterans you can find here (but not the longest in length) which occasionally leads it to being confused with the Moths of cottage country as it flutters around a screen door. As a reminder, this species is more well known by its scientific name, but it has a descriptive common name here for ease of discovery. Should you find one of these or a similar-looking Caddisfly near your outdoor lights, always remember to carefully check their wings while at rest, which should be held in a familiar tent-shape. Their heads will have different features of note as well. The extended mouthparts especially, and the white spots along the outer side of the forewing.

On the subject of those mouthparts, while the diet of a Caddisfly's adult stage can be variable (or even non-existent) depending on the family, it is my understanding that most Caddisflies still make use of their mouthparts in order to tear through their pupal casing. However, there's more nuances to that story that just biting your way out underwater. It's more so apparent since it's fairly evident that the filament-like mouthparts of the adults are better suited for sensory and lapping up liquids, and are insufficient for breaking through a pupa. Since Caddisfly Larvae radically change from gilled larva to air-breathing adult during their metamorphosis, they require provisions in order to survive the journey to the surface. As such, mandibles do break through a Caddisfly's pupal casing, but the emergent insect is a stage called a "pharate" adult. This encased, waterproof stage allows the adult Caddisfly (contained inside the pharate exoskeleton) to swim or crawl, depending on the family, through the water toward the water's surface or land respectively. This is a miraculous process, but it's also dangerous. If it goes wrong, the adult will be in an unforgiving environment, and the pupa themselves are vulnerable to fish, amphibians and birds throughout the travel and molting process.

Pictures were taken on June 25, 2022 in Muskoka with a Google Pixel 4. I've enjoyed re-examining these examples of large-winged insects (and I have many more examples to share), but next week we will return to some of the more "common" insect orders. Perhaps there will be a surprise or two along the way...