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Presented at the NABS Annual meeting, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 2002
in Systematics and Taxonomy
SALT MARSH CADDISFLIES: DISCOVERY OF THE LARVA AND LARVAL HABITAT OF LIMNEPHILUS ADEMUS IN SALT MARSHES IN PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND, CANADA.
O.S. Flint1 and D.J. Giberson2. 1Department of Entomology, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA , 20560, 2Dept. of Biology, University of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown, PE, C1A 4P3 Canada
Salt marshes are important coastal habitats along the east coast of Canada. Large numbers of Limnephilus ademus adults were collected in emergence traps over salt pools during a survey of biting flies in 1993, prompting a subsequent study on the larvae. We present a description of the larva of L. ademus, plus information on ecology and habitat. Larvae construct a detritus case, and can be seen walking over the surface of the salt marsh pools in early spring. At this time, water temperatures ranged from near freezing to 35oC, and salinities ranged from 5 to 25 parts per thousand. Larvae were first noted early in May in the summer of 2000; larvae returned to the lab in late May began to pupate almost immediately, and began emergence one week later. In the field, emergence extended from early June to the middle of July.
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