“Free-living, Green Caddisflies”
Genus Overview
Rhyacophila is the only genus from the family Rhyacophilidae in the United States east of the Rocky Mountains; it is widespread except less common in the Great Plains (absent from southern Great Plains). The larvae exhibit a variety of feeding strategies, they may be engulfing predators, especially as mature larvae, but also collector-gatherers, scraper-grazers, or shredder-herbivores. Larvae are free-living, meaning that they do not live in a case or retreat, but simply move throughout the environment, clinging to the substrate and pursuing prey. Before pupation, they build a rock shelter and spin a semipermeable cocoon inside it. Larvae are often, but not always, green in color, and often have well-defined segments, giving the body a beaded appearance. They can be readily identified using the following characters: sclerotized pronotum, membranous meso- and metanota, abdominal tergum IX with a sclerite, and anal prolegs free, not closely fused to segment IX.
Characteristics
POLLUTION TOLERANCE
Southeast: 0
Upper Midwest: 0
0 = least tolerant, 10 = most tolerant
FEEDING HABITS
Collector / Gatherer
Engulfer / Predator
Scraper / Grazer
Shredder / Herbivore
Engulfer / Predator
Scraper / Grazer
Shredder / Herbivore
MOVEMENT
Clinger
DISTRIBUTION
Widespread (east of the Rocky Mtns.)
HABITAT
Lotic-erosional
Diagnostic Characters
Media
Rhyacophila
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