Caddisflies

All 2 species of caddisflies on WAnimals

Each one has its own full profile. This group does not replace them: it brings them together.

Conservation status

Where they live

Recorded in 46 countries. The ones with the most species in the group:

Where to see them

Did you know…?

• Caddisflies are the only group of aquatic insects to have made silk a central part of their way of life, and that innovation explains why they are the most species-rich order of aquatic insects: some 14,500 described in 45 families.

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• Each larva builds its own portable case from silk and material off the bottom, and drags it along as it feeds.

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• They are related to the Lepidoptera: butterflies and caddisflies share a common ancestor.

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• The larva weaves a silk tube and coats it with fragments of leaves, stems and grains of sand gathered from the bottom, forming a portable house that it drags along and withdraws into when threatened.

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• A French artist gave caddisfly larvae gold, pearls and precious stones instead of sand, and the larvae built cases from them that are exhibited as works of art.

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• It is an essential decomposer of the leaf litter that falls into rivers and ponds, and a key prey for fish and amphibians.

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Ecosystems