Trichoptera: Limnephilidae of Gunnison County, ColoradoLimnephilus externus(Hagen) 1861Updated 19 Jun 2011
TSN 116146 
HabitatPonds and lakes in the Northern East River ValleyDescriptionDistinctive case of transversely crossing Carex or other aquatic plants. Case structure varies from big fluffy cases with distinctly green leaf stems at the higher elevations of Gunnison County to more tightly wound cases at the Kettle ponds south of Gothic. Case structure varies by available plants, prescence/abscence of predators and the density of other L. externus. When food supplies are low, they chew each others cases down.Locations CollectedKettle Ponds, Mexican Cut Nature Preserve, Meridian or Long Lake, Snodgrass Ponds Stampede, Horse and Foal, 401 Beaver Ponds, South of Gunnison?
Good LinksOn this website:Limnephilidae Introduction Other Websites: Photos, Map, Museum specimens, DNA - Barcodinglife.org Illustration - University of Alberta Entomology Collection Species page Has illustration of male genitalia, description, habitat information, range and more. ReferencesBerte,SB; Pritchard,G 1983 The structure and hydration dynamics of Trichopteran (Insecta) egg masses. Canadian Journal of Zoology 61, 378-384.Berte,SB; Pritchard,G 1986 The life histories of Limnephilus externus (Hagen), Anabolia bimaculata (walker), and Nemotaulius hostilis (Hagen) (Trichoptera:Limnephilidae) in a pond in southern Alberta, Canada. Canadian Journal of Zoology 64, 2348-2356. Czachorowski,S 1997 Limnephilus externus Hagen (Trichoptera: Limnephilidae) in Poland. Polskie Pismo Entomologiczne 66: 117-119. Hagen,HA 1861 Synopsis of the Neuroptera of North America with a list of South American species. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections 4, 1-344. Described as Limnophilus externus. Hagen's Glossary (pdf) 
Herrmann,SJ; Ruiter,DE; Unzicker,JD 1986 Distribution and records of Colorado Trichoptera. Southwestern Naturalist 31 4, 421-457. The authors show this species present in Gunnison County. Nimmo, A 1971 The adult Rhyacophilidae and Limnephilidae (Trichoptera) of Alberta and eastern British Columbia and their post glacial origin. Quaestiones Entomologicae 73: 3-234. Ruiter,DE 1995 The adult Limnephilus Leach (Trichoptera:Limnephilidae) of the new world. Vol. 11. Ohio Biological Survey, College of Biological Sciences, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. 200 pages. Keys and illustrates the adults of this species. Also shows it is present in Gunnison County. 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). Abstract  (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 Wissinger, S.A., J. Whissel, C. Eldermire, and W. Brown. 1998. The role of caddis cases in deterring predators along a predator-permanence gradient in high-elevation wetlands. Bulletin of the North American Benthological Society 15:142. Abstract 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)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  Notice the head and legs sticking out of the case to the left. There is a second caddis to the right who appears to be climbing into or chewing inside the back end of the first animal's case. |