Trichoptera

Kawahara, Akito Y., Plotkin, David, Hamilton, Chris A., Gough, Harlan, St Laurent, Ryan, Owens, Hannah L., Homziak, Nicholas T. & Barber, Jesse R., 2018, Diel behavior in moths and butterflies: a synthesis of data illuminates the evolution of temporal activity, Organisms Diversity & Evolution (New York, N. Y.) 18 (1), pp. 13-27 : 15

Trichoptera

The sister group relationship of Lepidoptera to Tricho ptera is well-established ( Hennig 1981; Whiting et al. 1997; Misof et al. 2014). Adult Trichoptera generally exhibit cryptic coloration and are thought to be predominantly crepuscular, but there are a few exceptions (Wiggins 1998). Diurnal adults are generally known from species found in temperate and arctic latitudes (Wells 1990; Ward 1995). It is conceivable that low night temperatures may make nocturnal flight more difficult for some species in colder climates, but this has not been thoroughly studied. Large synchronized emergences and brightly colored adults are known for many diurnal species; these traits are suspected to be anti-predation adaptations (Petersson 1989; Wiggins 2015). Few studies have delimited between crepuscular and nocturnal flight activity times in Trichoptera , but Harris (1971) found a peak in activity during the hour beginning at twilight. We believe this is sufficient evidence to treat Trichoptera as a crepuscular order, albeit with significant amounts of nocturnality in multiple independent lineages.