order
                        
                      
                                    Coleoptera
                                       “Adult Beetles”
                                  
                                    Coleoptera
                                       “Larval Beetles”
                                  
                                    Diptera
                                       “True Flies”
                                  
                                    Ephemeroptera
                                       “Mayflies”
                                  
                                    Hemiptera
                                       “True Bugs”
                                  
                                    Lepidoptera
                                       “Aquatic Caterpillars, Snout Moths”
                                  
                                    Megaloptera
                                       “Alderflies, Dobsonflies, and Fishflies”
                                  
                                    Odonata
                                       “Dragonflies and Damselflies”
                                  
                                    Plecoptera
                                       “Stoneflies”
                                  
                                    Trichoptera
                                       “Caddisflies”
                                 family
                        
                     Phryganeidae
               
            genus
                     Ptilostomis
            
                  “Giant Casemaker Caddisflies”
               
      Genus Overview
                  
               No genus-level description defined.
                  Characteristics
                  
               POLLUTION TOLERANCE
                        Southeast: 6.7
                                 Upper Midwest: 5
                                 Mid-Atlantic: 5
                              0 = least tolerant, 10 = most tolerant
                        FEEDING HABITS
                        
                                 Engulfer / Predator
Shredder / Detritivore
Shredder / Herbivore
                        
                     Shredder / Detritivore
Shredder / Herbivore
MOVEMENT
                        
                                 Climber
                        
                     DISTRIBUTION
                        
                                 Widespread (east of the Rocky Mtns.)
                        
                     HABITAT
                        
                                 Lotic-depositional
Lotic-erosional
                        
                     Lotic-erosional
Diagnostic Characters
               order
                         
                                       
                                       
                                    Prolegs With Single Hook
                                 family
                         
                                       
                                       
                                    Membranous mesonotum
                                  
                                       
                                       
                                    Membranous metanotum
                                  
                                       
                                       
                                    Setose Lateral Sclerites on Meso- and Metanota
                                  
                                       
                                       
                                    Abdominal Segment IX with Small Sclerite
                                  
                                       
                                       
                                    Mesonotum with 2 Pairs of Setae
                                  
                                       
                                       
                                    Metanotum with 2 Pairs of Setae
                                  
                                       
                                       
                                    Spiraling or Ringed Plant Case
                                  
                                       
                                       
                                    Stiff Prosternal Horn
                                 
                  + Expanded Character List
                  
                     
               
            
                        Order:
                           Larvae: Wings/wing pads absent. Eye spots present, but compound eyes absent. Antennae usually small, inconspicuous. Three pairs of segmented legs present on thorax. Pair of anal prolegs, each with single hook, located on last abdominal segment. Larvae can be free-living, in silken retreats attached to substrate, or in usually-portable tubes or cases made of sand, rocks, or plant material.
                     
                     
                        Family:
                           The larva lives in a case made of dead leaves with the pieces arranged as rings or in a spiral; the top of the first thoracic segment is covered by sclerites; the tops of the second and third thoracic segments are membranous or may have a pair of smaller sclerites on the top of the second segment; there is a prothoracic horn (stiff needle) between the front legs; there is a sclerite on the top of the 9th abdominal segment; anal prolegs are partly fused with the end of the abdomen.
                     
                     
                        Genus:
                           Not defined.
                     
                   
                   
                   
            Dorsal
               Ventral
               Case
               


