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Evolution Of Feeding And Case-Making Behavior In Trichoptera, John S. Weaver Iii, John C. Morse

Publications

A phylogeny of the families of Trichoptera is reviewed to provide a basis for understanding the probable evolution of feeding tactics and case or retreat constructions by larvae. At lease 48 hierarchically inclusive homologues are known, mostly from larval, pupal, and adult morphology. Their resulting phylogeny indicates that Rhyacophilidae, Hydrobiosidae, Glossosomatidae, and Hydroptilidae are more closely related to Philopotamidae, Hydropsychidae, and their allies than to Limnephilidae, Leptoceridae, and their allies. This phylogeny implies that the ancestral caddisfly larva was probably a tube-dwelling detritivore, inhabiting humus and detrial mats near the shores of lentic or lotic-depositional habitats. This ancestor evolved into …