Hydropsychidae sp. (family)

Net-spinning caddisfly at Melba, ACT

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Identification history

	Hydropsychidae sp. (family)	28 Apr 2025	MichaelMulvaney
	Unverified	24 Apr 2025	kasiaaus

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4 comments

Alice wrote:

27 Apr 2025

It's a caddisfly, but hard to see defining features for family. Probably a hydropsychid (Hydropsychidae). The larvae build sand-grain shelters on the down side of flow over rocks and logs and spin a net that entraps small particles that they sweep up and feed on.

kasiaaus wrote:

27 Apr 2025

Thanks @Alice. Is there any body part that I should be taking better photos of when I take photos of Caddisflies to make them easier to identify?

Alice wrote:

28 Apr 2025

You ID hydroptilids successfully (small size, pointed wings with long fringes, although one or two genera have rounded wings). Beyond that, when keying out caddisflies presence or absence of ocelli on head ('eye spots' but these can be difficult to see); flexibility or not of last segment of maxillary palps (if flexible they usually fold back at rest); form of dorsal surface of middle segment of thorax; number of spurs on legs; a few species are easy to identify from their wing patterns. Other useful features are difficult to see on live specimens or without a microscope. Alice

kasiaaus wrote:

28 Apr 2025

Thank you @Alice. I will do my best to capture the head in particular. Legs are hard to photograph unless I maybe turn it upside down. I could try that. There were unfortunately none yesterday to experiment with. Maybe it's getting too cold.

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Location information

Coordinates 149.050288 -35.208578
Altitude 593.0m
Places Melba, ACT

Sighting information

At least 1 Abundance
22 Apr 2025 10:30 PM Recorded on
kasiaaus Recorded by
Collections
kasiaaus NatureMapr Canberra & Southern Tablelands Caddisflies (Trichoptera) Other insects Insects

Additional information

5mm to 12mm Animal size

Species information

Hydropsychidae sp. (family) Scientific name
Net-spinning caddisfly Common name
Not Sensitive
Local native
Non-invasive or negligible
221.2m to 640.4m Recorded at altitude
Machine learning
External link More information

Record quality

Images or audio
More than one media file
Verified by an expert moderator
Nearby sighting(s) of same species
GPS evidence of location
Description
Additional attributes

Australian Capital Territory

New South Wales

Queensland

Northern Territory

Western Australia

South Australia

Victoria

Tasmania