Vol. 3: Insects

Order: Trichoptera

Species accounts

No common name

Glossosoma nigrior

FAMILY

Glossosomatidae

TAXONOMY

Glossosoma nigrior Banks, 1911, North Carolina, United States.

OTHER COMMON NAMES

None known.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Larvae are small, up to 0.36 in (9 mm) in length. Adults have a black body and black and white hair; their wings and legs are clear brown.

DISTRIBUTION

Eastern United States and Canada.

HABITAT

On stones in rapids of cool streams.

BEHAVIOR

Larvae make turtle-shaped cases with small pebbles.

Dicosmoecus gilvipes

Glossosoma nigrior

FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET

Larvae are scrapers and feed on diatoms and detritus.

REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY

Eggs are attached to stones.

CONSERVATION STATUS

Not threatened.

SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS

None known.

No common name

Abtrichia antennata

FAMILY

Hydroptilidae

TAXONOMY

Abtrichia antennata Mosely, 1939, Santa Catharina, Brazil.

OTHER COMMON NAMES

None known.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

With a forewing length of 0.16 in (4 mm), this is one of the largest species of the family (all Hydroptilidae are small in size, less than 0.24 in [6 mm]). Males have big projections on their heads, and their antennae have enlarged basal articles.

DISTRIBUTION

Southern Brazil, western Uruguay, and eastern Argentina.

HABITAT

Streams and rivers with stone beds.

BEHAVIOR

Mature larvae build oval convex cases and attach them to rocks; the cases have one opening on each end.

FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET

Larvae feed on algae growing on rocks.

REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY

Nothing is known.

CONSERVATION STATUS

Not threatened.

SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS

None known.

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Order: Trichoptera

Vol. 3: Insects

Triaenodes bicolor

Abtrichia antennata

Stenopsyche siamensis

No common name

Triaenodes bicolor

FAMILY

Leptoceridae

TAXONOMY

Leptocerus bicolor Curtis, 1834, Britain.

OTHER COMMON NAMES

Polish: Szuwarek.

FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET

Green plants.

REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY

Females deposit their eggs in a spiral pattern on aquatic plants.

CONSERVATION STATUS

Not threatened.

SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS

Considered a pest of cultivated rice fields.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Larvae are 0.34–0.52 in (8.5–13.0 mm) in length and ocher yellow in color. Adults have a delicate, brown body with very long antennae.

DISTRIBUTION

Europe east to western Russia.

HABITAT

Vegetation, usually in shallow sections close to the river bank, in stagnant and slowly running waters at a depth of 0.008–0.059 in (0.2–1.5 m).

BEHAVIOR

Larvae construct cases of small, spirally arranged, oblong plant particles, generally 0.6 in (15 mm) long, tapering posteriorly. Larvae attach their remodeled cases to the substrate and use them for pupation.

October caddisfly

Dicosmoecus gilvipes

FAMILY

Limnephilidae

TAXONOMY

Stenophylax gilvipes Hagen, 1875, Colorado, United States.

OTHER COMMON NAMES

English: Northern casemaker caddisfly.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Adults are large, dark brown in color, and the veins of the forewing are darker than the membrane. The forewing is 0.84–1.16 in (21–28 mm) in length.

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DISTRIBUTION

Western montane North America.

HABITAT

Larvae live on rocks in running waters and shores of lakes from 1,300–6,000 ft (395–1,830 m) in elevation.

BEHAVIOR

Larvae build stout cases of gravel; they use the same cases to pupate.

FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET

Larvae graze on diatoms and organic particles.

REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY

Individuals have a one-year (and occasionally a two-year) cycle. Adults emerge in late summer.

CONSERVATION STATUS

Not threatened.

SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS

Important as fish food, and used by fishermen as bait.

No common name

Stenopsyche siamensis

FAMILY

Stenopsychidae

TAXONOMY

Stenopsyche siamensis Martynov, 1931, Thailand.

Order: Trichoptera

OTHER COMMON NAMES

None known.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Larvae are large, more than 1.4 in (35 mm) in length; adults are brown and gray in color.

DISTRIBUTION

Southeast Asia, including Myanmar and Thailand.

HABITAT

Larvae inhabit stream rapids.

BEHAVIOR

Larvae construct retreats and food-catching nets in wide crevices beneath boulders.

FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET

Organic detritus and particles.

REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY

Eggs are attached to stones.

CONSERVATION STATUS

Not threatened.

SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS

Useful as a biological indicator organism. Larvae show abnormalities when water has been contaminated with certain pesticides.

Resources

Books

Ivanov, D. V. “Vibrations, Pheromones, and Communication Patterns in Trichoptera.” In Proceedings of the Eighth International Symposium on Trichoptera, edited by R. W. Holzenthal and O. S. Flint. Columbus: Ohio Biological Survey, 1997.

—. “Contribution to the Trichoptera Phylogeny: New Family Tree with Consideration of TrichopteraLepidoptera relations.” In Proceedings of the Tenth International Symposium on Trichoptera. Reprinted in Nova Suppl. Ent. Keltern 15 (2002): 277–292.

Vieira-Lanero, R. “Las larvas de los Tricópteros de Galicia (Insecta: Trichoptera).” Ph.D. diss. Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, Spain, 2000.

Wiggins, G. Larvae of the North American Caddisfly Genera (Trichoptera). 2nd ed. Toronto and Buffalo, NY: University of Toronto Press, 1996.

Periodicals

Kjer, K. M., R. J. Blahnik, and R. W. Holzenthal. “Phylogeny of Caddisflies (Insecta, Trichoptera).” Zoologica Scripta 31(2002): 83–91.

Wiggins, G., and J. Richardson. “Revision and Synopsis of the Caddisfly Genus Dicosmoecus (Trichoptera: Limnephilidae: Dicomoecinae).” Aquatic Insects 4, no. 4 (1982): 181–217.

Other

“Trichoptera World Checklist.” Trichoptera Checklist

Coordinating Committee. [7 May 2003]. <http://entweb

.clemson.edu/database/trichopt/>.

Elisa Angrisano, PhD

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