Trichoptera: Limnephilidae of Gunnison County, ColoradoAsynarchus nigriculus(Banks) 1908Updated 1 Jan 2012
TSN 116238  Egg masses in a wet spot under a log at the edge of a pond. This species is sometimes hard to separate from various Limnephilus species found in the same habitat. The defining character is that Asynarchus larvae have dorsal chloride epithelia, while Limnephilus sp. do not. However, immature and poorly preserved animals can be difficult to tell apart. A. nigriculus has been studied extensively at The Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory by Scott Wissinger and colleagues. Interestingly this species commonly cannibalizes its fellow larvae in the race to emerge from temporary habitats before they dry. Good LinksOn this website:Introduction to the Limnephilidae Other Websites: Photos, Map, Museum specimens, DNA - Barcodinglife.org ReferencesBanks, N. 1908 Neuropteroid insects - notes and descriptions. Transactions of the American Entomological Society 34:255-267.Described as Anabolia nigricula.  
Finn,DS and Poff,NL 2008 Emergence and flight activity of alpine stream insects in two years with contrasting winter snowpack. Artic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research 40(4)638-646. PDF Herrmann,SJ; Ruiter,DE and Unzicker,JD 1986 Distribution and records of Colorado Trichoptera. Southwestern Naturalist 31(4) 421-457. The authors show this species present in Gunnison County. 
Schmid, F. 1954 Le genre Asynarchus McL. (Trichopt., Limnoph.). Mitteilungen der Schweizerischen Entomologischen Gesellschaft 27:57-96.
Reviews the adults of Asynarchus. Wissinger, SA 2004 Population fluctuations in caddisflies inhabiting high-elevation wetlands in central Colorado. Presented at the NABS Annual meeting, Vancouver, British Columbia, in Population Ecology 2 Abstract Wissinger, S.A., W.S. Brown, and J.E. Jannot. 2003 Caddisfly life histories along permanence gradients in high altitude wetlands in Colorado (U.S.A.). Freshwater Biology 48(2).  (427 KB)Wissinger, S.A. and C. Eldermire and J.C. Whissel 2005 The role of larval cases in reducing aggression and cannibalism among caddisflies in temporary wetlands. Wetlands 24(4) 777-783. Abstract Wissinger,SA; Sparks,GB; Rouse,GL; Brown,WS; Steltzer,HM 1996 Intraguild predation and cannibalism among larvae of detritivorus caddisflies in subalpine wetlands. Ecology 77 8, 2421-2430. Abstract Read online Wissinger, S.A., Whiteman, H.H., Sparks, G.B., Rouse,G.L., Brown, W.S. 1999 Foraging trade-offs along a predator-permanence gradient in subalpine wetlands. Ecology 80, 2102-2116. Abstract Read online Wissinger,SA; Steinmetz,J; Alexander,JS; Brown,WS 2004 Larval cannibalism, time constraints, and adult fitness in caddisflies that inhabit temporary wetlands. Oecologia 138, 39-47. Wissinger, S.A., J. Whissel, C. Eldermire, and W. Brown. 2006 Predator defense along a permanence gradient: roles of case structure, behavior, and developmental phenology in caddisflies, Oecologia, Pages 1 - 12. Abstract (311 KB)Photos of chloride epitheliaFinding the elusive chloride epethilia on a Limnephilid caddisfly can be a triumphant moment at the microscope. I hope these photos help people know what to look for. Look for the shiny horizontal oval in about the center of the photo. Notice the faint dark edge or border. While this photo is not the best, it is fairly similar to what you see under an average microscope.  Closeup of a different chloride epethilia on the same animal. |