Posted by Larry Shone on 12-09-2012 15:20
#1
Apologies for the poor quality, I snapped it with my phone on the way to bed!
It's a big bigger than the usual green lacewings we get here, about Grashopper sized, and brown.
Posted by Larry Shone on 17-09-2012 00:00
#3
Paul Beuk wrote:
Caddisfly, Trichoptera
Thanks Paul! I wouldn't expect to find one in the house as we have no pond in the garden!
Posted by Calilasseia on 17-09-2012 01:28
#4
Identifying Trichoptera is something of a minefield for the unwary. If you encounter something like this in future, a voucher specimen sent to a relevant expert in the field would be your best bet if you require a
definitive identification.
One of my associates at Liverpool Museum, Dr Ian Wallace, specialises in Trichoptera, and he provided a presentation on the difficulties of identifying these organisms for the Lancashire & Cheshire Entomological Society a while ago. We noted with some amusement how one of the characteristics described as purportedly "large and obvious" in an outdated Trichoptera key, was only "large and obvious" at 400× magnification under the microscope! Dr Wallace received numerous nods of assent, when he explained how being asked to help with a new, updated key, involved numerous moments of exasperation arising from this and similar incidents. :)
There are
some Trichoptera that are amenable to some degree of narrowing down in the adult stage, but if you're unfortunate and have a member of one of the awkward clades, then even an expert will have to spend a fair amount of time performing a detailed anatomical analysis.