long winged fly
June 5, 2009
Found this last night sitting on the window sill near the side porch. It was not alarmed by me getting quite close to it, it did not move much at all. It was between 1.5 and 2 inches long.
J Reben
Fairfield, Maine, USA
Caddisfly: Hydatophylax argus
Dear J,
We are catching up on old mail, and there are some gems we never had the time to address. Your photo is one of those. This is a Caddisfly in the order Trichoptera. The adults are often compared to moths, and the aquatic larvae are known as Caseworms. We believe your large Caddisfly is Hydatophylax argus, a species with no common name, but in the family Limnephilidae, the Northern Caddisflies. You can see some matching images on BugGuide.
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Posted 13 July 2009
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Water Bug from Mendocino
Wed, Jul 1, 2009 at 8:09 AM
Hi WTB. I am easily freaked out by bugs but have a strange obsession with your site, as I came across it trying to identify a beetle. I live in Mendocino and was excited to see that you came here, I even joked to my boyfriend I was going to track you down and make you look at my pictures! Anyway the bug I want identified today was found in the Noyo River last week. I’ve posted two different pictures- It seemed to me it was the same bug, but at different stages in it’s life…? The first pic. is when we put it on land. It was narrow at the butt, wider at the head, with a big whole that it “went into” when it was bugged with. They both had little stones all over their body. The second picture looked the same, but it had things shooting from its backside. It loo ked like its defense would be to look like some kind of tree fallings. They were found in shallow water on the rocks and once we started looking for them they were everywhere!
P.S. I see easily 25 banana slugs a day if you decide that you would in fact like a pic. of one!
katebell
Northern California- on the Coast
Caddisfly Larva
Dear katebell,
These are Caddisfly Larvae. Caddisflies are in the order Trichoptera. Caddisfly Larvae create homes for themselves by cementing stones, twigs, shells and other debris. The larvae are called Caseworms. According to Charles Hogue in Insects of the Los Angeles Basin: “The shape and method of construction of the case is characteristic for a species or group of species, and the variety in these ‘mobile homes’ is extensive: they may be purse-shaped, tubular, curved, snail-shaped, or rectangular, and there are even types with sticks set in an ascending square framework that mimics a little log cabin.” There is a picture in Hogue’s book that looks very similar to your examples and it is listed as being in the genus Hesperophylax. We were in the Mendocino Woodlands campground near Fort Bragg and we are sad you did not try to find us. We would love a Banana Slug image. Please title the letter Banana Slug.
Caddisfly Larva
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Posted 01 July 2009
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Pond insect that wraps twigs and leaves around itself
Sun, May 3, 2009 at 4:22 PM
Today, while looking into the pond in our backyard, my husband noticed some movement along the bottom of the pond. Being the curious man he is, he reached in and what he pulled out were these two very strange looking bugs. The bugs, about an inch in length, look as though they have wrapped leaves and twigs around themselves for camouflage. He brought these bugs into the house and placed them in an isolation chamber in our aquarium for further investigation. After googling various descriptions of this insect I came out empty. So here I am seeking your knowledge. Attached are three pictures. In two you will see how they seem to like to attach themselves to each other. Hopefully you can help us identify these bugs. Thanks 
Ashley
Southern Ontario, Canada
Caddisfly Larvae
Hi Ashley,
These are Caddisfly Larvae and they are in the order Trichoptera. Here is what Charles Hogue writes in Insects of the Los Angeles Basin: “The larvae, which are aquatic bottom dwellers, are well known to stream fishermen as caseworms. Those of most species live in some sort of protective case or tube made of silk, with bits of leaves, twigs, sand grains, pebbles, or other object incorporated into the material to give the larvae additional physical protection and camouflage. The shape and method of construction of the case is characteristic for a species or group of species, and the variety in these mobile homes is extensive: they may be purse-shaped, tubular, curved, snail-shaped, or rectangular, and there are even types with sticks set in an ascending square framework that mimic a little log cabin.” Adult Caddisflies resemble moths.
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Posted 05 May 2009
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Hi there
I found your website while looking to find out what I caught when I scooped some tadpoles for my kids today. I’m pretty sure it does not look like a stick, but rather it lives in a stick. Legs look a little crabby or crawdad like. I don’t know, here is a picture. I would really appreciate if you had any information.
Thank you
Amanda
Hi Amanda,
Your fascinating insect is an aquatic Caddisfly Larva in the order Trichoptera. Adult Caddisflies are mothlike insects, and the larvae are aquatic shelter builders. Each species of Caddisfly, and there are many, builds a unique style of casing that it carries around with it for protection. Sone are a single twig, some many twigs cemented together, and some are even cemented pebbles and shells. You can read more about Caddisflies on BugGuide.
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Posted 23 May 2008
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What’s That Bug? 
Hi there, bugman!!
Here’s to swamping you some more. Found this little bug/moth? on my wall and wondered what he is. I searched you site a bit, though not very thoroughly as I’m on dial-up most of the time and those lovely photos take aaaaaages to load. Didn’t find him. Instead of jamming your inbox with image attached, here’s a link to it on my Flickr
account. Best of luck catching up with your email!
Vedrana
Hi Vedrana,
We don’t believe we will ever truly catch up on our emails. There were about 675 letters in our in box when we returned and we began by deleting everything with no subject line and have reduced the number by more than half. We are trying to post two letters per day from our absence and your linked image was perfect. This is a Caddisfly, a mothlike insect with an aquatic nymph. Caddisflies belong to the order Trichoptera.
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Posted 21 May 2007
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Order?
I was teaching some orders of aquatic insects along Little River in Van Damme state park (redwood forest; about 1 mile inland from ocean ; Mendocino County) And we saw this black insect. I am embarrassed that I couldn’t even figure out the order. The wings did not look like they had scales.
Thanks!
Teresa Sholars
Professor of Biological Sciences
Science Coordinator
Mendocino Coast Campus
College of the Redwoods
Hi Teresa,
We wish your photo was more detailed. We believe this to be a Caddisfly, Order Trichoptera. Renowned lepidopterist and Mt. Washington neighbor Julian Donahue just confirmed our identification. Here is what he has to say: “Nice website! I’ve actually been there before, and had already bookmarked it! I just never knew that you were a neighbor. And you’re correct about the caddisfly, although I can’t tell you what family it is.”
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Posted 01 May 2006
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strange bug
Hi, I hope this photo is enough for you to help me. I found this bug in some pond water and thought at first it was a small hollow stem but then the stem moved around, looking closely I could see legs coming out of the straw. It stretched out many times but then went back into the stem, like a hermit crab. Can you tell what it is? Thanks,
Sue MacMillan
Adelaide, South Australia.
Hi Sue,
What a wonderful image of a Caddisfly Larva. Caddisflies are in the order Trichoptera. The larvae are aquatic and build homes for protection. Each species has a distinct type of home. Some like yours, use hollow sticks. Others cement sticks or pebbles or shells together.
trying to identify this strange bug
Hello
My 6 yr old discovered this "pupa" while on vacation at her grandmother’s in the BC interior. She was on a creek at the time. Here is a photo.
Monique
Hi Monique,
This is a Caddisfly Larva. Adult Caddisflies resemble moths. The larvae are aquatic and are called Caddisworms. Many species construct portable cases around their bodies which later become pupal shelters. Sticks, small pebbles and other materials can form the basis of the case. Each species has a distinct type of case with specific building materials.
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Posted 22 August 2005
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what’s this bug
Hi, any idea what this bug is? i found it nearby a stream channel. it’s not in my field guide. thanks so much. great web site.
Rebecca McCue
Hi Rebecca,
This is a species of Caddisfly, Order Trichoptera. They resemble moths and are poor fliers. Larvae are aquatic and the larvae build homes by cementing sticks and stones together, forming a tube which is used as protection as well as camoflauge. There are over 1000 species in North America. Sorry I can’t give you an exact species.
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Posted 11 May 2005
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playground bugs [part 2]
Dear BUGMAN,
Thank you for writing back to us! WE LOVE YOUR SITE!!!!!
We are sending two medium sized photos of our Caddisfly [we thought the other photo we sent might be too small to be seen on the site]. We hope they help others! We also included our favorite stag beetle photo and praying mantis photo [it stayed on the wall next to our classroom door for days! We think it was listening in!] Thank you again for your help!
Always looking for bugs, Fours and fives in PA
Dear Fours and Fives in PA,
Thank you for the additonal photos. We are posting them immediately.
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Posted 01 November 2004
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What are these playground bugs?
Hello!
We are so happy to have found your web site! We are a class of 4 and 5 year olds in PA. We take photos of bugs everyday but then we have no clue what they are. We used the photos on your site to identify some of the bugs we have photographed. Like the Wheel Bug that visited us last week. The second photo is of a bug we have not named yet so hopefully we can start off calling it the proper name. We like its funny "nose". Obviously we REALLY need a bug encyclopedia! THANK YOU VERY VERY MUCH!
Fours and Fives in PA
Dear four and five year olds,
I’m so happy to see you are budding entomologists. Your other insect is a Caddisfly. They are members of the order Trichoptera that begin life as aquatic larvae. The larvae construct homes from sticks and tiny pebbles which are cemented togethe, acting as both protection and camouflage. The larvae are sometimes called Caseworms.
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Posted 11 October 2004
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