Florida Trichoptera Site: Florida A&M University

Identifying Florida Trichoptera

A list of publications and keys, many annotated, which we have found useful for identifying the Trichoptera of Florida.

Taken from:
Hubbard MD; Pescador ML; Rasmussen AK; Askevold IS; Jones J; Flowers RW; Epler JH. 1995. The freshwater macroinvertebrates of Florida. A guide to references for their identification. Florida Entomologist 78:161-177. download pdf file  [83 kb]

ARMITAGE, B. J. 1991. Diagnostic atlas of the North American caddisfly adults. I. Philopotamidae. Second edition. The Caddis Press, Athens, Alabama. 72 pp.
[Summarizes existing, published diagnostic information; keys with figures appearing at the couplets]

ARMITAGE, B. J., AND S. W. HAMILTON. 1990. Diagnostic atlas of the North American caddisfly adults. II. Ecnomidae, Polycentropodidae, Psychomyiidae, and Xiphocentronidae. The Caddis Press, Athens, Alabama. 152 pp.
[Families treated in the atlas pertinent for Florida include Polycentropodidae and Psychomyiidae]

DAIGLE, J. J., AND J. D. HADDOCK. 1981. The larval description and ecological notes of a caddisfly, Nectopsyche tavara (Ross) from the central Florida refugium (Trichoptera: Leptoceridae). PanPacific Entomologist 57327331.

FLINT, O. S., JR. 1960. Taxonomy and biology of Nearctic limnephilid larvae (Trichoptera), with special reference to species in eastern United States. Entomologica Americana 40:1117.

FLINT, O. S., JR. 1962. Larvae of the caddisfly genus Rhyacophila in eastern North America (Trichoptera: Rhyacophilidae). Proc. of the United States National Museum 113:465493.

FLINT, O. S., JR. 1984. The genus Brachycentrus in North America, with a proposed phylogeny of the genera of Brachycentridae (Trichoptera). Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C. 58 pp.

FLOYD, M. A. 1994. Larvae of the caddisfly genus Oecetis (Trichoptera: Leptoceridae) in North America. Ph.D. Dissertation, Clemson Univ., Clemson, South Carolina. 163 pp.
[Includes larval key to the majority of Oecetis species occurring in Florida]

GLOVER, J. B. 1993. The taxonomy and biology of the larvae of the North American caddisflies in the genera Triaenodes and Ylodes (Trichoptera: Leptoceridae). Ph.D. Dissertation, Univ. of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky. 252 pp.
[Includes larval key to nearly all species of Triaenodes likely to occur in Florida]

GORDON, A. E. 1984. The Trichoptera of Florida: A preliminary survey. Pages 161166 in J. C. Morse (ed.), Fourth International Symposium on Trichoptera. Series Entomologica, Volume 30. Dr. W. Junk Publ., The Hague.
[Unfortunately, this is the only statewide survey conducted to date on Florida Trichoptera]

HADDOCK, J. D. 1977. The biosystematics of the caddis fly genus Nectopsyche in North America, with emphasis on the aquatic stages. American Midland Naturalist 98:382421.
[Used in conjunction with Daigle and Haddock, 1981, all Florida species of Nectopsyche larvae except N. paludicola Harris can be identified]

HARRIS, S. C., P E. O'NEIL, AND P. K. LAGO. 1991. Caddisflies of Alabama. Geological Survey of Alabama, Biological Resources Div., Bull. 142:1442.
[Does not include taxonomic keys but is useful for checking species geographic distribution]

MARSHALL, J. E. 1979. A review of the genera of the Hydroptilidae (Trichoptera). Bull. of the British Museum of Natural History 39:135239.

MORSE, J. C., AND R. W. HOLZENTHAL. 1984. Trichoptera genera. Pages 312347 in R. W. Merritt and K. W. Cummins (eds), An introduction to the aquatic insects of North America. Kendall/Hunt Publ. Co., Dubuque, Iowa.

RESH, V. H. 1975. The biology and immature stages of the caddisfly genus Ceraclea in eastern North America (Trichoptera: Leptoceridae). Ann. Entomol. Soc. America 69:10391061. [Includes a larval key and descriptions for most species of Ceraclea likely to occur in Florida]

ROSS, H. H. 1944. The caddis flies, or Trichoptera, of Illinois. Bull. of the Illinois Natural History Survey 23:1326.
["Classic" work still very useful in the determination of both larvae and adults of many species including some from Florida]

SCHUSTER, G. A., AND D. A. ETNIER. 1978. A manual for the identification of the larvae of the caddisfly genera Hydropsyche Pictet and Symphitopsyche Ulmer in eastern and central North America (Trichoptera: Hydropsychidae). U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati (EPA600/478060). 128 p.
[Taxonomic key relies heavily on coloration patterns of the head capsule and with Florida material is often problematic]

SHERBERGER, F. F., AND J. B. WALLACE. 1971. Larvae of the southeastern species of Molanna. J. Kansas Entomol. Soc. 44:217224.
[Includes a taxonomic key and descriptions for M. blenda and M. tryphena but does not include M. ulmerina Navás]

UNZICKER, J. D., V. H. RESH, AND J. C. MORSE. 1982. Trichoptera. Pages 9.19.138 in A. R. Brigham, W. U. Brigham, and A. Gnilka, (eds.), Aquatic insects and oligochaetes of North and South Carolina. Midwest Aquatic Enterprises, Mahomet, Illinois.
[Useful for Florida species which range north to the Carolinas; summarizes life history and ecological information for many species]

WIGGINS, G. B. 1977. Larvae of the North American caddisfly genera (Trichoptera). Univ. of Toronto Press, Toronto. 401 p.
[Essential reference for anyone working on caddisfly larvae; includes larval keys to genus for all families; excellent illustrations]

WIGGINS, G. B. 1984. Trichoptera. Pages 271311 in R. W. Merritt and K. W. Cummins (eds), An introduction to the aquatic insects of North America Second edition. Kendall/Hunt Publ. Co., Dubuque, Iowa.
[Useful information on ranges]

WIGGINS, G. B. 1987. Order Trichoptera. Pages 253287 in F. W. Stehr (ed.), Immature Insects. Kendall/Hunt Publ. Co., Dubuque, Iowa.