The importance of leaf litter quality for colonization and consumption by two caddisflies (Goerodes satoi and Hydatophylax festivus) and an amphipod (Sternomoera yezoensis) was examined by laboratory and field experiments in a forested headwater stream in northern Japan. Initial values of leaf litter toughness and the carbon to nitrogen (C : N) ratio, both of which varied among the three most common tree species, oak (Quercus crispula), maple (Acer mono) and alder (Alnus hirsuta), decreased dramatically in the field experiment. The density of Hydatophylax was greatest in alder leaf litter characterized by the lowest C : N ratio among the three, with C : N ratio being the only predictor of their density. In contrast, lesser toughness was the only factor facilitating colonization by Sternomoera, the density of which was greatest in the softest maple litter. Neither toughness nor C : N ratio could be used to predict colonization by Goerodes. In the laboratory experiment, in which the shredders were reared on the aforementioned types of leaf litter, following conditioning periods of 1 week and 1 month (six separate trials), the litter consumption rate decreased with toughness in both Sternomoera and Hydatophylax, and with C : N ratio in the latter. However, the consumption rate of Goerodes was influenced by neither of the above, indicating that Sternomoera and Hydatophylax, but not Goerodes, selectively colonized the leaf litter available as a food resource in the stream. Both chemical and physical qualities of leaf litter play an important role in determining species‐specific colonization by invertebrate shredders.