Feeding Habits of Trichoptera in a Mountain Stream

Abstract

The gut contents of more than 900 Trichoptera larvae from the St. Vrain River of Colorado were determined by Millipore filter analysis. They ingested a mixed diet of detritus, vascular plants, diatoms and other algae (e.g. Ulothrix). Vascular plant fragments, detritus, and filamentous algae were the major food categories ingested from late spring through early summer, while diatoms were most commonly consumed in mid-winter and early spring. Seasonal dietary changes were apparently related to general availability of organic material and larval microhabitat. Hydropsyche sp., Arctopsyche grandis, Hydropsyche occidentalis and Brachycentrus americanus were predatory or cannibalistic during a brief period from May to August. This carnivorous behavior was not directly correlated either to species crowding or population developmental changes.