Trichoptera: Hydropsychidae of Gunnison County, ColoradoParapsyche elsis
Net spinning caddis Milne 1936
Updated Updated Twosday 2/22/2022 :-)
TSN 115560
Good Links
On this website:
Parapsyche almota
Hydropsychidae Introduction
Other Websites:
Photos, Map, Museum specimens, DNA - Barcodinglife.org
Illustration - University of Alberta Entomology Collection Species page
Has description, habitat information, range and more.
References
Deutsch,WG 1985 Swimming modifications of adult female Hydropsychidae compared with other Trichoptera. Freshwater Invertebrate Biology 4(1) 35-40.
Abstract: "Mesothoracic legs of 10 of 12 species of adult female Hydropsychidae (not Parapsyche almota or P. elsis) are modified for swimming; at least four of the ten species are known to swim to stream substrates to oviposit. Modified tibiae and tarsi of females differed from those of males in being widened, concave, and often, with a fringe of longer hair on the posterior edge. Modified mesothoracic legs were also found on some adult female Glossosomatidae, Polycentropodidae, and Psychomyiidae. Differences in swimming modifications found among hydropsychids and glossosomatids suggest a diversity of ovipositing behavior within these families. "
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.
Quote from page 28: "A thumb-shaped protuberance is found in Stenopsychodes mjoebergi (Stenopsychidae) (Figure 2-2 A) and Arctopsyche grandis (Hydropsychidae: Arctopsychinae) (Figures 2-6 A, B; 2-19 B). A smaller protuberance is found in Parapsyche elsis (Hydropsychidae: Arctopsychinae) (Figure 2-19 C). "
Dudgeon,D and Richardson,JS 1988 Dietary variations of predaceous caddisfly larvae (Trichoptera: Rhyacophilidae, Polycentropodidae and Arctopsychidae) from British Columbian streams. Hydrobiologia 160 (1)33-43.
Abstract: " The diets of larval Rhyacophilidae (Rhyacophila inculta), Polycentropodidae (Polycentropus variegatus) and Arctopsychidae (Parapsyche almota and P. elsis) from five streams in the University of British Columbia Research Forest, British Columbia (Canada), are recorded and related to feeding mode/constructional activities and prey representation in the habitat. Particular attention was paid to the extent of dietary overlap and the degree of intraspecific dietary variations between streams.
An overall similarity of the diets of the study species was notable and all commonly consumed chironomid (Diptera) larvae, Simulium (Diptera) and Zapada (Plecoptera), although there was interspecific variation in the relative importance of these items. Polycentropus variegatus and Parapsyche spp. ate Baetis and Paraleptophlebia, the latter predators also consuming Hydrachnellae (Acarina). Other prey were generally of minor importance and consequently interspecific dietary overlaps were high.
Differences in the range of prey consumed by predaceous Trichoptera were apparent. Free-foraging R. inculta which selectively consumed sedentary simuliid larvae had the narrowest niche breadth. Parapsyche spp. and Polycentropus variegatus foreguts generally contained an over-representation of chironomid larvae compared to their proportionate occurrence in the benthos, and these caddisflies exhibited high niche overlap. The relative importance of chironomids as food for Parapsyche spp. and Polycentropus variegatus is attributed to prey behaviour, i.e. drift, and poorly developed escape responses when they are caught on the predator's net.
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Gaufin,AR and Hern,S 1971 Laboratory studies on tolerance of aquatic insects to heated waters. Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 44:240-245. PDF
Abstract: "The mature larvae of fifteen species of aquatic insects (Diptera, Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera) and the scud (Amphipoda) were tested to determine their relative sensitivity to heated waters under laboratory conditions. The temperature at which 50% died after 96 hours (TLm96) was recorded as the lethal temperature. This ranged from 11.7 C for the torrential stream mayfly, Cinygmula par Baton, to 32.6 C for the snipefly, Atherix variegata Walker." They found the TLm96 for P. elsis was 21.7°C.
Givens, DR 2015 Parapsyche species (Trichoptera: Hydropsychidae: Arctopsychinae) of western North America. Zootaxa, 4057(4), pp.451-489.
Abstract: " The adult female, pupa, and larva of the 5 western North American species of the arctopsychine genus Parapsyche - P. almota Ross 1938, P. elsis Milne 1936, P. extensa Denning 1949a, P. spinata Denning 1949b, and P. turbinata Schmid 1968 - are reviewed. The female and larva of P. extensa are described for the first time. The larvae of P. spinata and P. turbinata are described for the first time. The chaetotaxy of the larval forms of western North American Parapsyche is discussed and scanning electron micrographs are presented. Keys to the females, known pupae, and larvae are provided. Distributional and biological data are also included."
Givens,DR and Smith,SD 1980 A synopsis of western Arctopsychinae (Trichoptera: Hydropsychidae). Melanderia 35:1-24.
Herrmann,SJ; Ruiter,DE and Unzicker,JD 1986 Distribution and records of Colorado Trichoptera. Southwestern Naturalist 31 4, 421-457.
They note the habitat for this species is streams and rivers, the altitudinal range is 2408 to 3200m and adult collection dates are 23 June. Quote from page 430: "This species is uncommon in Colorado. "
Lowe, WH and FR Hauer 1999 Ecology of two large, net-spinning caddisfly species in a mountain stream: distribution, abundance, and metabolic response to a thermal gradient. Can. J. Zool./Rev. can. zool. 77(10): 1637-1644.
Abstract: "We quantified the distribution and abundance of larvae of two species of caddisfly, Parapsyche elsis and Arctopsyche grandis (Trichoptera: Hydropsychidae), at 8 sites along a 560-m elevational gradient and a 36-km longitudinal gradient in a pristine mountain stream. Both species are widely distributed throughout the northern Rocky Mountains and have similar 2-year life-spans, similar catch-nets, and similar microhabitat requirements. However, the reach-scale distribution patterns were distinctly dissimilar. Parapsyche elsis larvae were most abundant in the upper reaches of the study stream, while A. grandis larvae were found only in lower stream segments. We examined the correlation between the stream gradient and the environmental variables that likely influence the distributions of these insects: temperature, food quantity and quality, current velocity, and substratum cobble size. Only those variables relating to temperature (i.e., annual degree-days, summer maximum) correlated with stream elevational and longitudinal gradients. Laboratory examination revealed a relationship between zones of temperature independence in the metabolism-temperature response of both species, maximum summer temperatures in the stream, and distribution of the two species. We propose that the physiological response of these species to stream temperature, with resulting bioenergetics, is the probable mechanism structuring the stream distribution and abundance patterns of these species."
Milne, L.J. 1936 Studies in North American Trichoptera. Part 3. Cambridge, Mass. : Author's publication. 128 pages.
Describes this species.
Milne, L. J., and M. J. Milne. 1938. The Arctopsychidae of continental America north of Mexico (Trichoptera). Bulletin of the Brooklin Entomological Society 33:97-110.
Nimmo, A. P. 1987. The adult Arctopsyche and Hydropsyche (Trichoptera) of Canada and adjacent United States. Questiones Entomologicae 23:1-189.
Frandsen,PB; Bursell,MG; Taylor,AM; Wilson,SB; Steeneck,A and Stewart,RJ 2019 Exploring the underwater silken architectures of caddisworms: comparative silkomics across two caddisfly suborders. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 374(1784), p.20190206. html
Abstract: "Caddisfly (Trichoptera) larvae assemble a variety of underwater structures using bioadhesive silk. The order is divided into two primary sub-orders distinguished by how the larvae deploy their silk. Foraging Integripalpia larvae construct portable tube cases. Annulipalpia larvae construct stationary retreats, some with suspended nets to capture food. To identify silk molecular adaptations that may have contributed to caddisfly diversification, we report initial characterization of silk from a net-spinner genus, Parapsyche, for comparison with the silk of a tube case-maker genus, Hesperophylax. Overall, general features of silk structure and processing are conserved across the sub-orders despite approximately 200 Ma of divergence: the H-fibroin proteins comprise repeating phosphoserine-rich motifs, naturally spun silk fibres contain approximately 1 : 1 molar ratios of divalent metal ions to phosphate, silk fibre precursors are stored as complex fluids of at least two types of complexes, and silk gland proteins contain only traces of divalent metal ions, suggesting metal ions that solidify the fibres are absorbed from the aqueous environment after silk extrusion. However, the number and arrangement of the repeating phosphoserine blocks differ between genera, suggesting molecular adaptation of H-fibroin through duplication and shuffling of conserved structural modules may correspond with the radiation of caddisflies into diverse environments."
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