Caddisflies, or sedges as many species are called, are one of the insect groups studied and monitored by the 'Riverfly Partnership' as they provide an important indicator of water quality and the state of our rivers. Together with mayflies and stoneflies, caddisflies play a vital role in the country's freshwater ecosystem with their larvae providing a food source for a variety of aquatic predators including some species of birds, such as dippers, as well as certain fish, notably trout. Caddisfly occurrence though is certainly not restricted to rivers as many species are found in a variety of still water habitats including lakes, ponds, marshes or even temporary puddles.

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TRICHOPTERA are closely related to LEPIDOPTERA and, notwithstanding the evolutionary development of these two groups, adult caddisfly resemble some of the micro-moths both in respect of the way they fly and their general appearance when settled. The main differences are that caddisfly rest with their wings folded back, tent-like, along the body and, unlike moths, the wings are hairy rather than covered in scales. They also have long antennae that are usually held out in front.

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Identification to family level may be possible by certain characteristics such as the wing venation and whether they have ocelli, but in practice there are only a few species that are going to be distinguishable from photos.

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Despite the difficulty with identification there are quite a number of the 200 or so British species that have been given common names by fly-fishermen, such as Yellow-spotted Sedge, Large Red Sedge, Rhomboid Cinnamon Sedge and Brown Sedge to mention a few.

       

I don't expect to come across caddisfly very often as, unfortunately, there are not that many accessible locations locally where they're likely to be encountered.  Those photographed to date though, include: Mystacides azurea (Blueish-black Silverhorn) and Mystacides longicornis (Grousewing Caddisfly) from the Leptoceridae Long-horned Caddisfly family, a couple of Limnephilids, Anabolia nervosa (Brown Sedge) and Glyphotaelius pellucidus, a pair of mating Goera pilosa (Medium Sedge) from the Goeridae family, and last, but not least, an attractive Philopotamus montanus (Yellow-spotted Sedge) from the Philopotamidae family.