Order Trichoptera

COMMON NAME: CADDISFLIES

The caddisflies are medium-sized, four-winged, moth-like insects having long, slender antennae. They have chewing mouthparts, but the adults probably do not feed. Metamorphosis is complete, the life stages being the egg, larva, pupa, and adult. The larvae of caddisflies live in streams and ponds and cover their bodies with portable cases made of small stones and other materials webbed together with silk. This case-making habit gives the order its common name, since the word caddis means "case". The adults are found near the streams, ponds, or lakes in which the larvae live. Caddisflies are attracted to lights in large numbers.

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Examples

		Family Phryganeidae Phryganea cinerea (Walker) - Giant Casemaker Caddisfly Size: 14-25 mm long Habitat: Larvae live in ponds and marshes. Their case is usually made of narrow strips of plant materials glued together longitudinally, usually in rings or a spiral.
		Family Leptoceridae Nectopsyche candida (Hagen) - Long-horned Caddisfly Size: 5-17 mm long Habitat: The larvae live in many different areas, and there is great variability in their cases.
**most of the images included in these pages are from the 'Insects in Kansas' Book. They are freely available for student and noncommercial use (according to their copyright agreement with each photographer) at the PDIS image site, http://www.pdis.org/default.aspx

For additional information on Trichoptera, please check out the following websites:

• http://tolweb.org/Trichoptera
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trichoptera
• http://www.earthlife.net/insects/trichopt.html