Caddisfly

aquatic insects · builders · metamorphosis

Master builders underwater. Young caddisflies create portable cases from pebbles, twigs, or sand held together with silk to protect themselves while hunting for food in streams and ponds.

Two different hunting styles. Some caddisfly larvae build cases and move around searching for meals, while others stay put in fixed homes and wait for food to drift to them.

Moth-like adults. Adult caddisflies have two pairs of hairy wings and look similar to moths, but instead of scales on their wings like moths have, caddisflies have tiny hairs.

Thousands of species worldwide. There are about 14,500 different kinds of caddisflies living in freshwater habitats across the world.

Related to lepidopterans. Caddisflies and butterflies and moths are closely related cousins, and scientists group them together as a special superorder called Amphiesmenoptera.