Caddisfly Family Helicopsychidae

Mayflies

Caddisflies

Stoneflies

Taxonomic Navigation -?-

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

» Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

» Class Insecta (Insects)

» Order Trichoptera (Caddisflies)

» Family Helicopsychidae

Genus in Helicopsychidae
HelicopsycheSpeckled Peters	1	8

Pictures Below ↓

See Helicopsyche borealis for details. It is the only important species in the only American genus of this family.

Pictures of 2 Caddisfly Specimens in the Family Helicopsychidae:

Helicopsyche borealis (Speckled Peter) Caddisfly Pupa

View 13 PicturesI'm calling this one very tentatively Helicopsyche borealis, with some big caveats that I might be wrong.

It seems to key fairly easily to Helicopsychidae, except at the last couplet in Merritt & Cummins (5th ed) it's supposed to have “anal processes short and straight, each with several mesal (Mesal: Toward the middle.) setae (Seta: Little hairs on insects.) and 2 long apical (Apical: Close to the apex; tip or end.) setae (Seta: Little hairs on insects.),” whereas this one has VERY short, straight processes with 3 long apical (Apical: Close to the apex; tip or end.) setae (Seta: Little hairs on insects.) and no mesal (Mesal: Toward the middle.) ones.

Additionally, the only species of Helicopsychidae documented in this region is Helicopsyche borealis, which is supposed to emerge much later in the summer.

Collected April 9, 2021 from the Yakima River in Washington
Added to Troutnut.com by Troutnut on April 12, 2021

Helicopsyche borealis (Speckled Peter) Caddisfly Adult

View 7 PicturesThis one keys pretty easily to the Helicopsychidae family, of which there is only one genus in North America, and one species reported in this general area.

Collected July 31, 2020 from the Henry's Fork of the Snake River in Idaho
Added to Troutnut.com by Troutnut on August 17, 2020

1 Underwater Picture of Helicopsychidae Caddisflies:

View Full Size and Comment (2.5X larger)

A variety of cased caddisfly larvae, probably mostly Neophylax, have clustered along the backside of a rock in fast water. There seem to be some Helicopsychidae larvae clustered along the bottom, and a few other taxa are mixed in. It's interesting that several larvae have especially large stones placed over the front openings of their cases, perhaps to block the case off for pupation.

It does seem to be the wrong time of year for Neophylax to be pupating, but that was the ID given for one of these which I collected and photographed up close.

In this picture: Caddisfly Genus Neophylax (Autumn Mottled Sedges) and Caddisfly Genus Helicopsyche (Speckled Peters).

StateNew York

LocationCayuta Creek

Date TakenApr 14, 2007

Date AddedMay 3, 2007

AuthorTroutnut

CameraPENTAX Optio WPi

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Jargon Defined:

Apical: Close to the apex; tip or end.

Larvae: Many classes of aquatic insects, such as caddisflies, midges, craneflies, dobsonflies, alderflies, and many more, are known as "larvae" rather than "nymphs" in their juvenile stages. They have mostly soft bodies rather than hard exoskeletons. These insects also advance through a "pupa" stage before reaching adulthood.

Mesal: Toward the middle.

Setae: Little hairs on insects.

Useful References:

LaFontaine, Gary. 1981. Caddisflies. The Lyons Press.

Swisher, Doug and Carl Richards. 2000. Selective Trout. The Lyons Press.