The Annulipalpia, also known as the "fixed-retreat makers", are a suborder of
Trichoptera
The caddisflies, or order Trichoptera, are a group of insects with aquatic larvae and terrestrial adults. There are approximately 14,500 described species, most of which can be divided into the suborders Integripalpia and Annulipalpia on the b ...
, the caddisflies.
[Glenn B. Wiggins, ''Larvae of the North American Caddisfly Genera (Trichoptera)'', 2nd. ed. (Toronto: University Press, 1996), p. 117] The name of the suborder refers to the flexible terminal segment of the adult maxillary palps, which often has many tiny rings.
The larvae construct fixed retreats in freshwater aquatic environments in which they remain stationary, waiting for food to come to them. Members of the
Psychomyiidae,
Ecnomidae and
Xiphocentronidae families construct simple tubes of sand and other particles held together by silk and anchored to the bottom, and feed on the accumulations of silt formed when suspended material is deposited on the substrate.
Some of the families are unique in spinning silken nets for filter feeding.
References
External links
Tree Of Life Annulipalpia Page
Trichoptera
Insect suborders
{{Trichoptera-stub