The speed of water

John Gooderham & Edward TsyrlinThe Waterbug Book, Collingwood (Vic), Csiro Publishing, (2002), 2009.

Carpenters, stonemasons and spinners

Cased caddisfly larvae use a variety of building materials for their homes. Their choice of building materials depends on the speed of the water, the material available, and the particular preferences of the species of caddisfly. For example, many of the leptocerids live in slow-flowing habitats, where there is a lot of plant matter available, sot hey tend to construct cases from sticks and aquatic plants. Glossosomatids tend to occur in faster-flowing streams, with gravel and sand, so this is what they use to construct their cases.