Overview
Brief Summary
Introduction
This is the largest family in the Plenitentoria, with approximately 900 described species. At higher latitudes and elevations, it is the dominant group in much of the Northern Hemisphere. The family was first established by Kolenati (1848) and includes species described by Linnaeus in Systema Naturae, 10th ed. Schmid (1955) resolved the family into its current classification, with refinements by Wiggins and colleagues (Vineyard & Wiggins 1988, Wiggins 1973, Wiggins et al. 1985). The Dicosmoecinae include the only Southern Hemisphere taxa in the family.
This is arguably the most ecologically diverse caddisfly family, as larvae occupy the full range of habitats. Limnephilid larvae are found in lakes, streams, and marshes. Some species of Ironoquia live in temporary pools and streams. Desmona larvae have been observed leaving the water at night to feed on shoreline plants (Erman 1981, Wiggins & Wisseman 1990), and a North American species of Philocasca Ross has an entirely terrestrial larva. Limnephilid larvae use both plant and mineral materials in their cases; the general trend in the family is that larvae in cool running waters use rock material, while those in warmer lentic habitats use plant material (Wiggins 1996).
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Ecology
Associations
Known predators
Salvelinus fontinalis
Based on studies in:
Canada: Ontario, Mad River (River)
This list may not be complete but is based on published studies.
© SPIRE project
Source:
SPIRE
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Known prey organisms
dead plants
Based on studies in:
Canada: Ontario, Mad River (River)
This list may not be complete but is based on published studies.
© SPIRE project
Source:
SPIRE
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Evolution and Systematics
Evolution
Discussion of Phylogenetic Relationships
View Limnephilidae Tree
The monophyly of Limnephilidae is supported by multiple independent genes, including nuclear rRNA, and mitochondrial COI (Kjer et al., 2001), as well as combined molecular data, and combined molecular and morphological data (Kjer et al., 2001; 2002; Holzenthal et al., 2007).Trusted
Molecular Biology and Genetics
Barcode
Locations of barcode samples
© Barcode of Life Data Systems
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Statistics of barcoding coverage
| Specimen Records: | 6,480 |
| Specimens with Sequences: | 5,762 |
| Specimens with Barcodes: | 5,350 |
| Public Records: | 1,079 |
| Species: | 457 |
| Species With Barcodes: | 421 |
© Barcode of Life Data Systems
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Barcode data
© Barcode of Life Data Systems
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Wikipedia
Limnephilidae
Limnephilidae is a family of caddisflies with about 100 genera. They belong to the main lineage of case-constructing caddisflies, the Integripalpia or tube-case caddisflies. The Limnephilidae is one of the most species-rich Trichoptera families of northern temperate regions, but only a few are known from tropical areas and the Southern Hemisphere. For this reason they are often known as northern caddisflies.
Description and ecology
The adults are usually brown in colour, often with narrow mottled or patterned forewings and much broader, transparent hindwings. The aquatic larvae construct portable cases from a wide variety of plant and mineral materials, sometimes even snail shells. Cases of young larvae often looking completely different from those of larger instars. Larvae tend to be eruciform (with a thickset head and thorax), rather slow-moving, and usually feed by browsing algae or scavenging animal remains. They pupate within the larval case, the pupa swimming to the surface before flying away as an adult. For most species the life cycle is completed within one year.
The family includes one extraordinary aberrant genus, Enoicyla, whose larvae are terrestrial, living among moss and leaf litter. The females of Enoicyla have only vestigial wings and are flightless.
Larval case of Anabolia nervosa
Larval case of Limnephilus flavicornis
Larval case of Limnephilus stigma
Larval case of unknown species
Systematics
The Limnephilidae are divided among the four subfamilies listed here (with some notable genera also given). A few genera are not presently assignable to subfamily.
References
- Chinery, Michael Collins Guide to the Insects of Britain and Western Europe 1986 (Reprinted 1991)
Source:
Wikipedia
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