[Animals] Caddisfly | Aquatic Insects, Larvae & Life Cycle | Britannica

[Aronus]

caddisfly, (order Trichoptera), any of a group of mothlike insects that are attracted to lights at night and live near lakes or rivers. Because fish feed on the immature, aquatic stages and trout take flying adults, caddisflies are often used as models for the artificial flies used in fishing.

 

General features
caddisflyAdult caddisfly (Trichoptera).
Adult caddisflies are commonly 3 to 15 millimetres (0.118 to 0.590 inch) in length. Their anterior wings usually range from 4 to 20 millimetres in length, providing wing spans of 8 to 40 millimetres. The wings at rest are folded rooflike and cover the top of the body. One family (Hydroptilidae), commonly known as microcaddis, are only 1.5 millimetres in length, with anterior wings of 2 to 5 millimetres. Caddisfly wings either are covered with hairs or have hairs on the veins. The posterior wings are often broader than the anterior wings.

Caddisflies are widely distributed in freshwater habitats throughout the world. The larva of one marine species, Philanisus plebeius, occurs in intertidal zones of New Zealand and southern Australian coasts. The larva of one terrestrial European species, Enoicyla pusilla, lives in damp leaf litter, while one or two other species occur in brackish water. Approximately 7,000 species of caddisflies are known.

 

 

Caddisfly | Aquatic Insects, Larvae & Life Cycle | Britannica