Brachycentridae is a family of humpless casemaker caddisflies in the order

Trichoptera The caddisflies (order Trichoptera) are a group of insects with aquatic larvae and terrestrial adults. There are approximately 14,500 described species, most of which can be divided into the suborders Integripalpia and Annulipalpia on the basis ...

. It is found in North America, Europe, and Asia.

Georg Ulmer Georg Ulmer (5 March 1877, in Hamburg – 15 January 1963, in Hamburg) was a German entomologist who specialized in research of Trichoptera (caddisflies) and Ephemeroptera (mayflies). In 1899 he qualified as an instructor, and up until 1934 h ...

first described it in Germany in 1903 as a subfamily of Sericostomatidae.Ulmer, p. 18. The

type genus In biological taxonomy, the type genus (''genus typica'') is the genus which defines a biological family and the root of the family name. Zoological nomenclature According to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, "The name-bearin ...

for Brachycentridae is '' Brachycentrus'' J. Curtis, 1834.

Distribution

The family Brachycentridae contains at least 100 species in about 8 genera. The genera ''Adicrophelps'' and ''Amiocentrus'' are found near the

Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the northernmost of the five major circle of latitude, circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth at about 66° 34' N. Its southern counterpart is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circl ...

. Species of the genera ''Doliocentrus'' and ''Eorbachycentrus'' are found in southeastern

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

and Japan and western North America respectively.

Larvae

Most species'

larvae A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect developmental biology, development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typical ...

make cases using plant or rock material. Several others make it out of

silk Silk is a natural fiber, natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be weaving, woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is most commonly produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoon (silk), c ...

. A few species' larvae in ''Brachycentrus'' form cases in the water with hairs sticking out to absorb food from the water.Wiggins, p. 292.

Genera

These eight genera belong to the family Brachycentridae: * ''

Adicrophleps ''Adicrophleps'' is a genus of humpless casemaker caddisflies in the family Brachycentridae. There is one described species in ''Adicrophleps'', ''A. hitchcocki''. References Further reading

* * * Trichoptera genera Articles cr ...

'' Flint, 1965^{i c g b} * '' Amiocentrus'' Ross, 1938^{i c g b} * '' Baissoplectrum'' Ivanov, 2006^g * '' Brachycentrus'' Curtis, 1834^{i c g b} * '' Dolichocentrus'' Martynov, 1935^{i c g} * '' Eobrachycentrus'' Wiggins, 1965^{i c g} * '' Hummeliella'' Forsslund, 1936^{i c g} * '' Micrasema'' McLachlan, 1876^{i c g b} Data sources: i = ITIS, c = Catalogue of Life, g = GBIF, b = Bugguide.net

References

Bibliography

* Ulmer, G. (1903) ''Ueber die Metamorphose der Trichopteren''. Hamburg, Germany: Abhandlungen des Naturwissenschaftlichen. * Wiggins, G. B. (2004) ''Caddisflies: the underwater architects''. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. * Trichoptera families Taxa named by Georg Ulmer {{Trichoptera-stub