ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses that one kind of shelter is built on a firm substrate under the water, and it affords physical protection for the larva. Larvae that live in underwater shelters almost always occupy their shelters alone. The insect order Trichoptera encompasses species which typically construct one of two basic kinds of shelter. Some of the species that do not construct shelters for protection will collect food particles from the water by spinning nets which extend into the passing water and filter out material which adheres to the silk of the nets. Caddisfly species inhabit either lentic or lotic habitats, and some confine their development to lotic habitats within a range of water velocity. Dipterans in the family Chironomidae make use of tube-like tunnels spun from silk for shelter and protection. The larvae of a few species of Trichoptera are terrestrial, just as a few species of Lepidoptera have aquatic larvae.
