Welcome to Neotropical Trichoptera

Neotropical Trichoptera is a Scratchpads site devoted to research in the taxonomy and biodiversity of Neotropical caddisflies. The insect order Trichoptera, or caddisflies, contains about 15,000 species worldwide distributed in 600 genera and 49 families.  Almost 3,000 species have been recorded from Mexico, the Antilles, and Central and South America, but many more species are known to occur in the region.  The larvae of these fascinating aquatic insects weave silken nets to capture food or reside in intricate cases they make from sand, leaves, and other material they find in the aquatic environment. In the Neotropics, larvae are found in cold streams at 4000 m in the Andean páramo, in the meandering large rivers of the Amazonian lowlands, and in all manners of aquatic habitats between these.  The larvae are generally intolerant of pollution and a locally diverse caddisfly fauna is indicative of good water quality.

This site is devoted to the discovery, description, and conservation of Neotropical Trichoptera. The objective of this site is to provide our working group with the resources to explore and describe Neotropical Trichoptera within an integrative taxonomic and phylogenetic framework.

Neotropical Trichoptera Scratchpads is newly established (June, 2014) and content will be added within the coming months.  We look forward to your comments.