Lateral view of a Male Baetis (Baetidae) (Blue-Winged Olive) Mayfly Dun from Mystery Creek #43 in New York

Blue-winged Olives
Baetis

Tiny Baetis mayflies are perhaps the most commonly encountered and imitated by anglers on all American trout streams due to their great abundance, widespread distribution, and trout-friendly emergence habits.

A small spring creek in Wisconsin. A little brook trout stream tumbles over boulders

Stream photos

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Limnephilus (Summer Flier Sedge) Caddisfly Larva Limnephilus (Summer Flier Sedge) Caddisfly Larva

Case view of a Limnephilus (Limnephilidae) (Summer Flier Sedge) Caddisfly Larva from the Yakima River in Washington

24 Recently Added Photos

27" brown trout, my largest ever. It was the sub-dominant fish in its pool. After this, I hooked the bigger one, but I couldn't land it.

Troutnut is a project started in 2003 by salmonid ecologist Jason "Troutnut" Neuswanger to help anglers and fly tyers unabashedly embrace the entomological side of the sport. Learn more about Troutnut or support the project for an enhanced experience here.

Caddisfly Family Lepidostomatidae (Little Brown Sedges)

See Lepidostoma for details. It's the only important genus in this family.

The other one, Theliopsyche, is an uncommon Eastern small stream genus.

Where & when

In 563 records from GBIF, adults of this family have mostly been collected during July (26%), August (23%), June (23%), May (11%), and September (9%).

In 214 records from GBIF, this family has been collected at elevations ranging from 7 to 19701 ft, with an average (median) of 4304 ft.

Family Range

source

Map of specific collection sites

Specimens of the Caddisfly Family Lepidostomatidae

3 Male Adults

Male Lepidostoma (Little Brown Sedge) Caddisfly Adult

7 Pictures

Lateral view of a Male Lepidostoma (Lepidostomatidae) (Little Brown Sedge) Caddisfly Adult from the Madison River in Montana

On an evening filled with millions of caddisflies, this one stood out as the only one of its kind that found its way into my net. Dave Ruiter identified it from the photos as a Lepidostoma specimen in the pluviale species group.

Collected June 30, 2019 from the Madison River in Montana

Added by Troutnut on July 17, 2019

Collected June 30, 2019 from the Madison River in Montana and added by Troutnut on July 17, 2019

Male Lepidostoma (Little Brown Sedge) Caddisfly Adult

4 Pictures

Lateral view of a Male Lepidostoma (Lepidostomatidae) (Little Brown Sedge) Caddisfly Adult from the Henry's Fork of the Snake River in Idaho

Collected August 10, 2018 from the Henry's Fork of the Snake River in Idaho

Added by Troutnut on June 12, 2019

Collected August 10, 2018 from the Henry's Fork of the Snake River in Idaho and added by Troutnut on June 12, 2019

Male Lepidostoma podagrum (Little Brown Sedge) Caddisfly Adult

3 Pictures

Male Lepidostoma podagrum (Lepidostomatidae) (Little Brown Sedge) Caddisfly Adult from the Fall River in California

Collected May 11, 2011 from the Fall River in California

Added by Entoman on December 10, 2011

Collected May 11, 2011 from the Fall River in California and added by Entoman on December 10, 2011

2 Female Adults

Female Theliopsyche (Little Brown Sedge) Caddisfly Adult

5 Pictures

Lateral view of a Female Theliopsyche (Lepidostomatidae) (Little Brown Sedge) Caddisfly Adult from Mystery Creek #42 in Pennsylvania

This one has a neat iridescent sheen to its wings.

See the discussion for details on this fly's tentative ID.

Collected May 27, 2007 from Mystery Creek #42 in Pennsylvania

Added by Troutnut on June 4, 2007

Collected May 27, 2007 from Mystery Creek #42 in Pennsylvania and added by Troutnut on June 4, 2007

Female Lepidostoma podagrum (Little Brown Sedge) Caddisfly Adult

3 Pictures

Female Lepidostoma podagrum (Lepidostomatidae) (Little Brown Sedge) Caddisfly Adult from the Fall River in California

These specimens are still alive, just very cold, so the colors are accurate. I put them in the freezer for a bit to settle them down and overdid it a little:)

Collected May 11, 2011 from the Fall River in California

Added by Entoman on December 14, 2011

Collected May 11, 2011 from the Fall River in California and added by Entoman on December 14, 2011

5 Larvae

Lepidostoma (Little Brown Sedge) Caddisfly Larva

12 Pictures

Case view of a Lepidostoma (Lepidostomatidae) (Little Brown Sedge) Caddisfly Larva from Mystery Creek #199 in Washington

Collected July 27, 2019 from Mystery Creek #199 in Washington

Added by Troutnut on July 30, 2019

Collected July 27, 2019 from Mystery Creek #199 in Washington and added by Troutnut on July 30, 2019

Lepidostoma (Little Brown Sedge) Caddisfly Larva

6 Pictures

Case view of a Lepidostoma (Lepidostomatidae) (Little Brown Sedge) Caddisfly Larva from the Delaware River in New York

Collected May 12, 2007 from the Delaware River in New York

Added by Troutnut on May 18, 2007

Collected May 12, 2007 from the Delaware River in New York and added by Troutnut on May 18, 2007

Lepidostoma (Little Brown Sedge) Caddisfly Larva

10 Pictures

Case view of a Lepidostoma (Lepidostomatidae) (Little Brown Sedge) Caddisfly Larva from Mongaup Creek in New York

This one got a little bit damaged in the abdomen when I extracted it from its case. That's a delicate job.

Collected May 5, 2007 from Mongaup Creek in New York

Added by Troutnut on May 18, 2007

Collected May 5, 2007 from Mongaup Creek in New York and added by Troutnut on May 18, 2007

Lepidostoma podagrum (Little Brown Sedge) Caddisfly Larva

1 Picture

Lepidostoma podagrum (Lepidostomatidae) (Little Brown Sedge) Caddisfly Larva from the Fall River in California

This egg packet was dropped from the specimen with the severely foreshortened abdomen in the other photo series. It's amazing how much abdominal length is given up in this process. The egg packet looked black in the hand.

Collected May 11, 2011 from the Fall River in California

Added by Entoman on December 14, 2011

Collected May 11, 2011 from the Fall River in California and added by Entoman on December 14, 2011

Lepidostoma podagrum (Little Brown Sedge) Caddisfly Larva

2 Pictures

The photo of the specimen cased is alive. The photo of the uncased larva is the same specimen taken after it was preserved in its case. Unfortunately, there was a lot of pigment transfer making the specimen look olivaceous. In life it was grayish white as shown in the first photo.

Collected May 11, 2011 from the Fall River in California

Added by Entoman on December 14, 2011

Collected May 11, 2011 from the Fall River in California and added by Entoman on December 14, 2011

Start a Discussion of Lepidostomatidae

References

LaFontaine, Gary. 1981. Caddisflies. The Lyons Press.
Swisher, Doug and Carl Richards. 2000. Selective Trout. The Lyons Press.