Episode 43: Pics and Patterns for Zebra Caddis

Hi Folks, Here are some pics and patterns for this episode on the Zebra Caddis. Let's start with some of those figures I was talking about in the episode. This is a picture of the typically dish shaped head of the zebra caddis larva. This is from Wiggins, Larvae of the North American Caddisfly Genera (Trichoptera). Note it lists the old name for the genus - Macronema. Next, from the same source is a cutaway picture of the case - showing the two chambers and the net used to trap food. Lastly, here is a figure from an article (McArthur 2000) showing the variations in how the case is built for Macrostenum carolina. OK, let's then talk about the adults. Here is a nice picture of a zebra caddis adult: And another - this one was actually taken on a wall on the St. Croix River next to the lights near a dam: In contrast - this is what an alderfly looks like - Zebra Caddis - especially in New England are often called Alder Flies - this this alderfly is in order Megaloptera - related to the fishflies and the dobsonflies: OK, so how are you going to imitate these guys? For the larvae - I would look at the green rockworm blog - any of those flies would work fine for these. For the pupa - here is Thomas Ames Jr.'s Sens Pupa from his fantastic book, Caddisflies. I made some modifications, so here is my version of it: Body: Olive antron dubbing Wing: Mallard Quill Hackle - soft rooster - I've tied it beard style Head - black dubbing and a bead One of my favorite overall caddisfly adult imitations is the Goddard Caddis - I love it, in part because it floats like a cork. Originally it was simply natural deer hair with a brown rooster hackle and stripped quill antennae. I simply changed the deer hair to give it the striped pattern and lost the antennae. Here is an E-12 or Europea 12 where I substituted the mallard breast wings with woodcock: Body: Brown dubbing Rib: Yellow Thread Wing: Woodcock Head/Thread: Yellow And here is Chappy's Zebra Caddis: Body: Peacock Herl Wing: Snowshoe Hair, banded with brown marker (natural or orange) Hackle: Grizzly or Brown Lastly, for imitating the female zebra caddis after she has laid her eggs, here is the alder fly: Which is a simple enough fly: Tag: Gold Tinsel Body: Peacock Herl Wings: Mottled Turkey Beard: Black Hen There you go, I hope you enjoyed the episode.

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Episode 43: Pics and Patterns for Zebra Caddis is an episode from Angler's Entomology Podcast by Eric Frohmberg.

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This episode was published on Jun 24, 2020.

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