Instar sizes, life cycles, and food habits of five Rhyacophila (Trichoptera: Rhyacophilidae) species from the Appalachian Mountains of South Carolina, U.S.A.

Abstract

The larval head widths at each instar, life cycles, and food habits of late instars were determined for five species of Rhyacophila from two Appalachian mountain streams in South Carolina, U.S.A. Rhyacophila acutiloba Morse & Ross was univoltine with two cohorts, one emerging in the spring and another presumably emerging in early autumn. Rhyacophila fuscula (Walker), R. nigrita Banks, and R. Carolina Banks were apparently multicohort, univoltine species with extended flight periods. Rhyacophila minor Banks was univoltine with a spring emergence. All species were predaceous and consumed mainly Plecoptera nymphs and Trichoptera larvae.

Life cycle of a giant carnivorous caddisfly, Himalopsyche japonica (Morton) (Trichoptera: Rhyacophilidae), in the mountain streams of Nagano, Central Japan

“…In Rhyacophila munda, the cohort overwintered as second and third instar larvae that emerged from August to October, and as fourth instar larvae that emerged from May to June (Elliot 1968). As for R. acutiloba, the cohort overwintered as fifth instar larvae and emerged in April, and as first to third instar larvae that emerged in September (Manuel and Folsom 1982). In R. dorsalis, the first cohort overwintered as fourth instar larva and emerged from August to October and the second chort overwintered as first and second instar larvae, overwintered again as fifth instar larvae, and emerged from May to June (Elliot 1968).…”

“…Numerous Rhyacophila species are distributed widely in mountain streams in the Holarctic, Oriental, and Neotropical regions, and many ecological studies have been made, mainly on North American and European species (Elliott 1968;Manuel and Folsom 1982;Singh et al 1984;Martin 1985;Irons 1988;Dixon and Wrona 1992;Lavandier and Cereghino 1995;Ito 1999). On the other hand, the species of Himalopsyche are distributed only in the eastern Palaearctic, Nearctic, and Oriental regions, and many species have been recorded from the Himalayan region (Schmid and Botosaneanu 1966;Morse 1999), although little ecological information is available for this genus (Schmid and Botosaneanu 1966;Wiggins 1996).…”

Emergence of some caddisflies (Trichoptera) from a wooded stream in southern Ontario

“…streams (Parker & Voshell, 1982), there have been many studies, especially in North America, of their Because of the important contribution that cadecology (Mackay & Kalff, 1973; Williams & Hynes, disflies make to the production and dynamics of 1973; Wallace, 1975;Resh, 1977;Malas& Wallace, 1977;Benke & Wallace, 1980;Fuller & Mackay, 1980) and life histories (Mackay, 1969(Mackay, , 1972(Mackay, , 1979 2 A platykurtotic distribution has fewer items at the mean and in 1980) and life histories (Mackay, 1969(Mackay, , 1972(Mackay, , 1979; the tails than in a normal distribution but has more items in Cudney & Wallace, 1980;Manuel & Folsom, 1982; intermediate regions. A bimodal distribution is an extreme pla- Parker & Voshell, 1982).…”

Dietary variations of predaceous caddisfly larvae (Trichoptera: Rhyacophilidae, Polycentropodidae and Arctopsychidae) from British Columbian streams

“…Generally, their diets included some of the range of prey recorded in previous studies of Rhyacophilidae (Thut, 1969;Manuel & Folsom, 1982;Martin & Mackay, 1983), Polycentropodidae (Winterbourn, 1971;Hildrew & Townsend, 1976;Townsend & Hildrew, 1979) and Arctopsychidae (Mecom, 1972;Wallace, 1975;Malas & Wallace, 1977). Overall however, the study species consumed similar types of prey although differences in niche breadth were associated with increases in the range of uncommon taxa eaten, as well as a lack of dietary dominance by a single taxon.…”