Trichoptera

The caddisflies are a group of insects with aquatic larvae and terrestrial adults. There are approximately 14,500 described species, most of which can be divided into the suborders Integripalpia and Annulipalpia on the basis of the adult mouthparts. Integripalpian larvae construct a portable casing to protect themselves as they move around looking for food, while annulipalpian larvae make themselves a fixed retreat in which they remain, waiting for food to come to them. The affinities of the small third suborder Spicipalpia are unclear, and molecular analysis suggests it may not be monophyletic. Also called sedge-flies or rail-flies, the adults are small moth-like insects with two pairs of hairy membranous wings. They are closely related to the Lepidoptera which have scales on their wings; the two orders together form the superorder Amphiesmenoptera.

Trichoptera

Bruce Marlin · CC BY-SA 2.5 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
caddisflyPBDB
Sits inside
StellopteraPBDB
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Arthropoda
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Insecta

Time the record covers

At least 309 million years on record.

The record covers at least 309.8 Mya to 129 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 315.2 Mya to 11.7 ka.

Carboniferous — about 3 of 1255 occurrencesPermian — about 1 of 1255 occurrencesPermianEarly Triassic — about 0 of 1255 occurrencesMiddle Triassic — about 6 of 1255 occurrencesLate Triassic — about 2 of 1255 occurrencesLate TriassicEarly Jurassic — about 9 of 1255 occurrencesEarly JurassicMiddle Jurassic — about 14 of 1255 occurrencesLate Jurassic — about 41 of 1255 occurrencesEarly Cretaceous — about 144 of 1255 occurrencesEarly CretaceousLate Cretaceous — about 152 of 1255 occurrencesLate CretaceousPaleocene — about 11 of 1255 occurrencesEocene — about 669 of 1255 occurrencesOligocene — about 22 of 1255 occurrencesMiocene — about 107 of 1255 occurrencesPliocene — about 1 of 1255 occurrencesPleistocene — about 73 of 1255 occurrences322–311 Mya — about 2 occurrences311–300 Mya — about 1 occurrence257–246 Mya — about 1 occurrence246–236 Mya — about 6 occurrences236–225 Mya — about 1.0 occurrences225–214 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences214–204 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences193–182 Mya — about 7 occurrences182–171 Mya — about 2 occurrences171–161 Mya — about 15 occurrences161–150 Mya — about 9 occurrences150–139 Mya — about 35 occurrences139–129 Mya — about 21 occurrences129–118 Mya — about 70 occurrences118–107 Mya — about 49 occurrences107–96 Mya — about 47 occurrences96–86 Mya — about 87 occurrences86–75 Mya — about 18 occurrences75–64 Mya — about 3 occurrences64–54 Mya — about 12 occurrences54–43 Mya — about 10 occurrences43–32 Mya — about 658 occurrences32–21 Mya — about 27 occurrences21–11 Mya — about 95 occurrences11–0 Mya — about 80 occurrences309.8 Mya129 ka322 Mya0 Mya

1,255 occurrences of Trichoptera on record, most of them in the Eocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

1,255 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

99 formations

Amka — 59.45°N, 140.35°EAmka — 59.45°N, 140.29°EAmka — 59.09°N, 140.85°EFlorissant — 38.92°N, 105.28°WFlorissant — 38.93°N, 105.24°WKap København — 82.47°N, 23.66°WKap København — 82.45°N, 24.10°WZaza — 53.30°N, 112.09°ESharteg — 44.14°N, 95.77°EDon — 43.69°N, 79.36°WKheta — 71.63°N, 100.97°EKheta — 72.03°N, 101.33°EKheta — 71.31°N, 99.56°EDoronino — 51.99°N, 113.24°EYixian — 41.15°N, 117.96°EYixian — 41.62°N, 120.83°EYixian — 42.08°N, 116.56°ERott — 50.75°N, 7.26°ERott — 50.75°N, 7.26°ECockfield — 36.41°N, 88.34°WCockfield — 35.92°N, 88.78°WCockfield — 35.50°N, 89.07°WCockfield — 35.50°N, 88.81°WCockfield — 35.65°N, 88.77°WCockfield — 36.21°N, 88.46°WCockfield — 36.41°N, 88.36°WCockfield — 35.05°N, 89.24°WCockfield — 35.33°N, 88.98°WDurlston — 50.60°N, 1.95°WLatah — 46.53°N, 116.79°WLatah — 47.61°N, 117.43°WLatah — 46.74°N, 116.27°WLatah — 47.65°N, 117.44°WBouldnor — 50.74°N, 1.36°WGreen River — 39.46°N, 108.41°WGreen River — 39.00°N, 108.00°WGreen River — 42.58°N, 109.94°WGreen River — 42.11°N, 109.05°WGreen River — 39.73°N, 107.98°WWeald Clay — 51.13°N, 0.32°WWeald Clay — 51.22°N, 0.07°WWeald Clay — 52.72°N, 1.44°WItat — 56.17°N, 93.17°ERaritan — 40.47°N, 74.32°WDzun-Bain — 45.45°N, 99.13°EMadygen — 40.05°N, 70.21°EMadygen — 40.03°N, 70.25°ETitusville Till — 41.62°N, 79.64°WKhaya — 62.16°N, 118.60°EMagothy — 40.46°N, 74.34°WGlushkovo — 51.92°N, 117.62°EGlushkovo — 51.71°N, 116.93°EGlushkovo — 52.00°N, 116.00°E

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The named rock units Trichoptera has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 75 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 830 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Trichoptera and its relatives

Eocene

Where Trichoptera and its relatives were recorded in the Eocene.

Found in the same rock

7,407 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 328 sites for Trichoptera, and this reads 240 of them. Of that, one read hit the database's own return limit, so every count below is a floor rather than a total. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

239 references

Each of the 1,255 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 227 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Trichoptera

Credit
Bruce Marlin
Licence
CC BY-SA 2.5
Commercial use
the licence allows it

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
Free Standard
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itStelloptera through timeFormations of the EoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Kirby 1815