Caddis Fly larva

[John Robinson]

Caddis Fly Larva (Limnephilus spp.)
Caddis fly larvae are interesting. Most are aquatic, but not all. They make their cases differently which helps to identify many of them Some use vegetation- others gravel- others shells etc etc. This one obviously uses shells of aquatic snails. They have a special place for me as the man who wrote the difinitive work on the was a very good friend- Norman Hickin
This one done in my small portable tank set up.
D200
Sigma 50mm macro
200 ISO
Camera pop up flash and slave flash above.
250th @f18
(Weed is Ceratophylum demersum)

[Jonathan Ashton]

Great shot, I have never seen one with so many snail shells. Ideally would have liked the head in a lateral view but nevertheless a very illustrative and informative shot.

[Steve Maxson]

Hi John. This is a new one for me - I haven't seen a caddisfly larva that uses shells like this. Very cool. Very nice sharpness and clarity and a nice view of the larva that lives inside the case. Me being picky again - there are some light-colored horizontal lines below the subject that look rather like reflections on the glass - some clone work could take care of that. Also, I'm curious how you use your pop-up flash without getting major reflections off the glass and back onto the sensor? I always have my flashes at at least a 45 degree angle to the glass. This is another strong image and a little cleanup work will make it even better.

[John Robinson]

Thanks Jon/ Steve
Yes its scratches on the glass. I usually have to make new tanks after a year sometimes. As far as the angle goes I have to raise the camera just enough - ( or make sure its at an angle from the glass) . at close quarters with the wide macros so the reflection is just out of shot- remembering that a flash reflection in any glass will be at 90 % to the source. I usually use a separate flash which I can obviously move around. Its easy enough to work out where the reflection will be by drawing a straight line from flash to glass at 90% If the reflection is in your viewing area - move .
Cheers
John

[Jerry van Dijk]

Very nice capture, John! I love all those little shells showing! I've seen a lot of cases of these animals, but never the actual animal itself, so this is a first for me. Do you happen to know what those yellow spiney apendages at the underside of the body (just outside the casing) are? Gills perhaps?

[John Robinson]

Thanks all. Jerry- yes they are gills, -in this case trachael gills but ist hard to see if theyare branched or not. The gills are often an aid to species ID.
John
Can't get the ID down to species level. Evidently there sems to be some controversy over it.