“Seine-net Weaver Caddisflies”
Genus Overview
The genus Hydropsyche is the largest in the Hydropsychidae family, including 80 species in America North of Mexico. Larvae build stationary retreats of silk, detritus, and rock fragments. A part of the entrance of the retreat often has a circular silken net woven to its upstream end, protruding across the current to filter bits of suspended food from the water. This how they earned their common name, “net spinners.” A larva defends its territory by making warning sounds as it scrapes its front femora against washboard-like files on the underside of the head.
Characteristics
POLLUTION TOLERANCE
Southeast: 0 - 8.1
Upper Midwest: 1 - 7
Midwest: 2.6
Mid-Atlantic: 4
0 = least tolerant, 10 = most tolerant
FEEDING HABITS
Collector / Filterer
Engulfer / Predator
Scraper / Grazer
Engulfer / Predator
Scraper / Grazer
MOVEMENT
Clinger
DISTRIBUTION
Widespread (east of the Rocky Mtns.)
HABITAT
Lotic-erosional
Diagnostic Characters
Media
Adult Hydropsyche
Hydropsyche
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