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Photo#1055316
Caddisfly larva in case with mica

Caddisfly larva in case with mica
6 miles NW Lyons, Boulder County, Colorado, USA
April 26, 2005
Ten years ago this caddisfly larva was found in a very small shallow creek with the creekbed mainly feldspar gravel with mica. In the foothills at about 6400'. The case here is ornamented with mica. This larva was momentarily taken out of water to photograph on a hand. They are very difficult to photograph in water.
Right now there are several of these larvae active in the same small creek in spite of a flood that scoured the entire canyon floor for a couple of weeks in Nov. 2013. Any help with their ID is much appreciated.

Moved

Moved
Moved from Caddisflies.

Sorry
I cannot determine family for this critter with any confidence. Several CO caddis can make cases like this. Most cases are not diagnostic.

 
caddisflies
Thanks for your comments. They are greatly appreciated. I did not realize that cases are in general non-diagnostic.

 
cases
some will get you to genus without any trouble (e.g. Helicopsyche), others, like this, not to family. Given your habitat notes, I suspect it is Hesperophylax (Limnephilidae) but it could be one of the Lepidostomatidae.

 
Thanks
Thanks for clarifying this and getting this caddisfly to one of two families. That helps a lot.

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