Molanna flavicornis (Trichoptera) of Gunnison County, Colorado

Trichoptera: Molannidae of Gunnison County, Colorado

Molanna flavicornis

Banks 1914

Updated 8 February 2026
TSN 116475

This is the only species of this genus in western North America.

Good Links

Other Websites:
Photos, Map, Taxon Identifier Numbers - from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility Molanna flavicornis at GBIF

Illustration - from the University of Alberta Entomology Collection Species page
Has photos of larvae, description, habitat information, range and more.

Photos, Map, Museum specimens, DNA - Barcodinglife.org

References

Al Mousa,MDA 2020 Studies on the Odonata and Trichoptera of high-elevation lakes of northern Colorado and southern Wyoming. MS Thesis, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado. 187 pages. PDF
Quote from page 81 and 87: "The family Molannidae was represented only by one species, Molanna flavicornis Banks 1914 collected from 14 montane and alpine lakes from the seven counties (Table 3.1, Appendix 4). And from page 87: One species of the hooded casemaker caddisflies; Molanna flavicornis Banks, 1914 was collected and recorded from 14 lakes between 1933 and 2020 in four counties of the study area, Boulder (5), Clear Creek (1), Gilpin (2), Jackson (1) and Larimer (5) Counties at elevation between 2,675-3,240m (Fig. 3.19, Table 3.1, Appendix 4)."

Banks,N 1914 American Trichoptera- notes and descriptions. Canadian Entomologist 46:149-156, 201-204, 252-258, 261-268.

Djernæs,M and Sperling,FAH 2012 Exploring a key synapomorphy: correlations between structure and function in the sternum V glands of Trichoptera and Lepidoptera (Insecta). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 106: 561-579.

Dodds,GS and Hisaw,FL 1925 Ecological studies on aquatic insects. III. Adaptations of caddisfly larvae to swift streams. Ecology 6(2)123-137. Abstract and first page

Herrmann,SJ; Ruiter,DE and Unzicker,JD 1986 Distribution and records of Colorado Trichoptera. Southwestern Naturalist 31 (4) 421-457.
     Notes that this species is found in Gunnison County.

Löfstedt,C; Bergmann,J; Francke,W; Jirle,E; Hansson,BS and Ivanov,VD 2008 Identification of a sex pheromone produced by sternal glands in females of the caddisfly Molanna angustata Curtis. Journal of chemical Ecology, 34(2), 220-228. HTML
     Abstract: "In the caddisfly Molanna angustata, females produce a sex pheromone in glands with openings on the fifth sternite. Gas chromatographic analyses of pheromone gland extracts with electroantennographic detection revealed four major compounds that stimulated male antennae. These compounds were identified by means of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and enantioselective gas chromatography as heptan-2-one, (S)-heptan-2-ol, nonan-2-one, and (S)-nonan-2-ol in the approximate ratio of 1:1:4:10, respectively. Field tests showed that the mixture of the two alcohols was attractive to males whereas addition of the corresponding ketones reduced trap catches. The sex pheromone of M. angustata, a species in the family Molannidae within the suborder Integripalpia, is similar to the pheromones or pheromone-like compounds previously reported from six other trichopteran families, including members of the basal suborder Annulipalpia. This suggests that minimal evolutionary change of the pheromone chemistry has taken place within the leptoceroid branch of integripalpian Trichoptera compared to the ancestral character state. "

Merrill,D 1969 The distribution of case recognition in ten families of caddis larvae (Trichoptera). Animal Behavior 17(3)486-493.

Neave,F 1933 Ecology of two species of Trichoptera in Lake Winnipeg. Internationale Revue der gesamten Hydrobiologie und Hydrographie 29(1/2):17-28.
     Associated the larvae and adult.

Roy,D and Harper,PP 1980. Females of the Nearctic Molanna (Trichoptera: Molannidae). Proceedings of the Entomological Society in Washington 82:299-236.

Zuellig,RE; Heinold,BD; Kondratieff,BC and Ruiter,DE 2012 Diversity and Distribution of Mayflies (Ephemeroptera), Stoneflies (Plecoptera), and Caddisflies (Trichoptera) of the South Platte River Basin, Colorado, Nebraska, and Wyoming, 1873-2010. U.S. Geological Survey Data Series 606, 257 p. PDF - caution 46MB
     Quote from page 94: " This is a relatively high-elevation species that was collected from lentic habitats in the SPRB. The distinctive larvae inhabit mud and sand substrates of lakes and slow moving streams (Wiggins, 1996)." The elevation range is 8,250-10,600 feet and the adults emerge from June-July.

Brown,WS 2005 Trichoptera (Caddisflies) of Gunnison County, Colorado, USA
www.gunnisoninsects.org