#caddisfly

Examples of caddisfly larval cases made from unusual materials from Memorie della Società entomologica italiana v.12 (1933).

Did y'all know caddisfly larvae could swim? I sure didn't.

big and small i love them all

also snails are bugs because I say so

also also if you want to id them for fun for yourself you can they're basically all from ny but I typically use inaturalist rather than. waiting specifically for your inbox to open lol

also also also sorry if this is too many they just bring me joy

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.

@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.