gobirding.eu Mothing Diary: Wildlife review of 2019 and 2020

CADDISFLIES (TRICHOPTERA)

For caddisflies I now attempt to identify more or less every caddisfly that I find in the garden moth trap, with just a few exceptions on the busiest nights, plus as many as possible of those caught elsewhere. My efforts have increased over recent years so year-on-year comparisons are of limited meaning. The order I've used follows that used in the main species accounts of the excellent RES Handbook (The adult Trichoptera (caddisflies) of Britain and Ireland by Bernard and Ross). Another really useful resource that is sasdly no longer available was a Fenno-Scandinavian caddisfly website (bad link left in just in case it comes back live again). This was incredibly valuable as it showed photos of the abdomens from a variety of angles for the majority of British species and I really miss it! A new book on caddisflies by is in preparation, focusing on the characters visible using no more than a hand lens, and I had the pleasure of using a test version of this during the latter half of 2020. This will be a very important resource for anyone interested in caddisfly identification, especially to newcomers to the field.

[Update 27th Feb 2021 - Great news! I'm not sure how long it's been here but the awesome Fenno-Scandinavian site is back up and running at this new location. Hurrah!]

I've thrown in quite a few photos of genitalia and abdomens, partly to provide an easy go-to lookup for myself but also, with the more challenging identifications, to enable others to comment on them (or correct me if need be). Please do get in touch if you can help in any way.

My review of caddisflies I recorded in 2019-2020 covers several pages: below is an index to them by family - click on the links for photos and details of all the species recorded or just go to the first and then use the "Next page" links at the bottom to move on through.