Caddisflies (Trichoptera)
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Glasgow Museums has a collection of around 300 caddis specimens (Trichoptera), which date from 1941 to the present.
This collection includes pinned adult caddisflies as well as adults, pupae, larvae and their cases stored in alcohol. These specimens have all been collected since 1941 and represent approximately one fifth of the species in Britain. They are almost exclusively from Scotland, with limited foreign examples from Trinidad and Iceland. Many of the pinned adults were collected by Iain Christie from Dunbartonshire in the 1970s and by Fred Woodward from Ayrshire in the 1980s. The most interesting specimens in the collection are those from a survey of the species on the remote St Kildan archipelago. There are also examples of the only British caddisfly (Enoicyla pusilla) that lives on land as a larva, rather than in water.
About caddisflies
There are approximately 13,000 species of caddis worldwide, about 200 of which are found in the UK. Caddisflies are closely related to butterflies and moths. They usually have aquatic larvae which are found in running and still water. Some are predatory, and others are grazers. The larvae of many species make protective cases of silk which they decorate with gravel, sand, twigs or other debris. - Broader term
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