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**Caddisfly Genus Hydropsyche (Spotted Sedges)**

Mayflies

Caddisflies

Stoneflies

Taxonomic Navigation -?-

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

» Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

» Class Insecta (Insects)

» Order Trichoptera (Caddisflies)

» Family Hydropsychidae

» Genus Hydropsyche (Spotted Sedges)

Species in Hydropsyche
Hydropsyche aenigmaSpotted Sedge	1	18
Hydropsyche alternansSpotted Sedge	0	0
Hydropsyche betteniSpotted Sedge	0	0
Hydropsyche bidensSpotted Sedge	0	0
Hydropsyche bifidaSpotted Sedge	0	0
Hydropsyche brontaSpotted Sedge	0	0
Hydropsyche californicaSpotted Sedge	1	5
Hydropsyche cockerelliSpotted Sedge	0	0
Hydropsyche occidentalisSpotted Sedge	0	0
Hydropsyche oslariSpotted Sedge	0	0
Hydropsyche simulansSpotted Sedge	0	0
Hydropsyche slossonaeSpotted Sedge	0	0
Hydropsyche sparnaSpotted Sedge	0	0
Hydropsyche vexaSpotted Sedge	0	0

50 species aren't included.

Common Name

Match	Common Name
	Spotted Sedges

Pictures Below ↓

The most important genus in the most important family of caddis.

More to come - Page in edit mode.

Pictures of 11 Caddisfly Specimens in the Genus Hydropsyche:

Specimen Page:12

Hydropsyche aenigma (Spotted Sedge) Caddisfly Adult

View 18 PicturesThese big caddisflies were tempting trout as they wriggled out of their shucks (

View Full Size

Here's an underwater view of the pupal shucks of several already-emerged Brachycentrus numerosus caddisflies.

Shuck: The shed exoskeleton left over when an insect molts into its next stage or instar. Most often it describes the last nymphal or pupal skin exited during emergence into a winged adult.), while others skated across the water at a medium pace, probably egg-laying.

Collected May 15, 2007 from the West Branch of the Delaware River in New York
Added to Troutnut.com by Troutnut on May 18, 2007

Hydropsyche (Spotted Sedges) Caddisfly Pupa

View 8 PicturesSeveral users have interesting comments in the discussion of this specimen, but this observation by Creno is especially good:

Also, this is what I would call an "immature" pupa. The wingpads of caddis pupae darken to nearly black as the enclosed adults near emerging. The darkening is the developing adult wing inside the pupal wing pad (

The wing pads on this final instar Baetidae mayfly nymph are extremely dark.
Wing pad: A protrusion from the thorax of an insect nymph which holds the developing wings. Black wing pads usually indicate that the nymph is nearly ready to emerge into an adult.). The ultimate coloration of the adult wing is not very apparent in most pupal wing pads (

The wing pads on this final instar Baetidae mayfly nymph are extremely dark.
Wing pad: A protrusion from the thorax of an insect nymph which holds the developing wings. Black wing pads usually indicate that the nymph is nearly ready to emerge into an adult.) as the majority of the adult wing coloration comes from the color/position of the adult wing hairs and setae (Seta: Little hairs on insects.). But dark pupal wingpads are a good indication that the emergence will occur very soon, likely that day or so, and that the adult parts are sufficiently developed within the pupae to make a species determination from the specimen, particularly if it is a male.

Collected May 13, 2007 from the Delaware River in New York
Added to Troutnut.com by Troutnut on May 18, 2007

Hydropsyche californica (Spotted Sedge) Caddisfly Larva

View 5 PicturesSize - 14 mm

Condition - preserved

Habitat - cobble bottom, moderate flow run, at a depth of approx. 1 1/2 feet.

Key Characters - pair of large prosternal sclerites (Sclerite: A hard plate of chitinous material, such as those that form the exoskeletons of arthropods, uninterrupted by cracks or sutures.)

This is a very common taxon at this location. I collected using a kick net. In life, it is bright olive green ventrally, shading to a dull olive at its dorsal (Dorsal: Top.) abdominal surfaces. In the hand, the legs, thoraxic regions, and head appear medium chocolate brown. The stark contrast of the thoraxic plate's dark edges and light legs are effects of preserving. The plumouse anal hooks were duck down gray, not the color of the gills as appears in the preserved specimen.

The Lower Yuba River is a good habitat for this species, being a larger river with an open canopy. The Feather River just to the north of the Yuba system also finds H. californica in abundance. The other common Hydropsyche species in the area, Hydropsyche occidentalis, seems to prefer smaller, shaded streams.

Entoman

Collected March 9, 2011 from the Lower Yuba River in California
Added to Troutnut.com by Entoman on November 2, 2011

Specimen Page:12

Recent Discussions of Hydropsyche

Correct hatch time of year Hydropsyche slossonae? 10 Replies »

Posted by AndyV on Aug 26, 2022 in the species Hydropsyche slossonae

Last reply on Oct 11, 2022 by AndyV

I've seen hatch charts (e.g. DNR hatch chart for SE MN) stating mid-May til the end of July vs June (from this site). Can anyone confirm?

Your Thoughts On Hydropsyche:

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Jargon Defined:

Dorsal: Top.

Emergence: The transformation of a nymph or pupa into the adult winged stage of an insect. The term may refer to the emergence of an individual, or the daily or yearly event in which all individuals of a species emerge.

Pupa: Any insect which spends most of its juvenile lifetime as a larva first becomes a pupa for a time before emerging as a fully grown adult. Depending on the species, the pupal form can be very important for fly fishermen to imitate.

Sclerites: A hard plate of chitinous material, such as those that form the exoskeletons of arthropods, uninterrupted by cracks or sutures.

Setae: Little hairs on insects.

View Full Size

Here's an underwater view of the pupal shucks of several already-emerged Brachycentrus numerosus caddisflies.

Shucks: The shed exoskeleton left over when an insect molts into its next stage or instar. Most often it describes the last nymphal or pupal skin exited during emergence into a winged adult.

The wing pads on this final instar Baetidae mayfly nymph are extremely dark.

Wing pad: A protrusion from the thorax of an insect nymph which holds the developing wings. Black wing pads usually indicate that the nymph is nearly ready to emerge into an adult.

Useful References:

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

Schwiebert, Ernest G. 1955. Matching the Hatch. MacMillan Publishing Company.

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