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Caddisfly Genus Limnephilus (Summer Flier Sedges)

Taxonomic Navigation -?-
Species in LimnephilusNumber of SpecimensNumber of Pictures
Limnephilus externusSummer Flier Sedge47
Limnephilus frijoleSummer Flier Sedge11
Limnephilus indivisusSummer Flier Sedge00
Limnephilus sericeusSummer Flier Sedge00
Limnephilus spinatusSummer Flier Sedge00
Limnephilus submoniliferSummer Flier Sedge00
Limnephilus thorusSummer Flier Sedge00

102 species aren't included.
Common Names
Pictures Below
This prolific genus is most important in lakes, spring ponds, and beaver ponds, but some of its species do well enough in spring creeks and slow pools to be important to trout there.  

Where & When


Time Of Year (?): Late spring through fall

Preferred Waters: Mostly stillwater; some species inhabit slow streams

Most of these species emerge in late spring or early summer, but the adults are not mature (sort of like mayfly duns, except they don't need to molt again). They mature over the summer and mate in the fall.

According to Swisher and Richards in Selective Trout, some Limnephilus species are multibrooded (Multibrooded: Producing more than one generation in a single year. Baetis mayflies are a classic example. Insects which produce a single generation with two distinct peaks (like the June and September hatches of Isonychia bicolor mayflies) are not multibrooded, because the fall insects are offspring from the previous fall instead of the current year's spring.), with one spring generation and one fall generation. This seems very strange for a large caddisfly, and I wonder if they mistook the spring emergence and fall egg-laying for different broods.

Egg-Laying Behavior


LaFontaine writes in Caddisflies that they lay their eggs "near the water."

Larva & Pupa Biology


Shelter Type: Thick tubes of stone, sand, bark, or wood


Pictures of 7 Caddisfly Specimens in the Genus Limnephilus:

Specimen Page:12
Limnephilus externus (Summer Flier Sedge) Caddisfly NymphLimnephilus externus (Summer Flier Sedge) Caddisfly Nymph View 1 PicturesThis caddis is one of the most abundant caddisflies in temporary ponds of Glacier Park. The larvae build a round case of detritus (Detritus: Small, loose pieces of decaying organic matter underwater.) and dead plant material that can get quite large.
Collected June 25, 2008 from Temporary ponds- Glacier Nat. Park in Alaska
Added to Troutnut.com by Bnewell on June 26, 2011
Specimen Page:12

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