Trichoptera: Leptoceridae of Gunnison County, ColoradoOecetis inconspicua
Plain Red-Brown Long Horn Sedge(Walker) 1852
Updated 30 January 2026
TSN 116613
This caddisfly is found in the lower elevations of the Gunnison Basin and has a widespread distribution in the USA. Leptocerid caddisflies are called "Long Horn" caddis because of long antennae on the larvae. That is, they are very long for a caddisfly :-) Many other aquatic insects have longer antennae.
Good Links
On this website:
Introduction to the Leptoceridae
Other Websites:
Photos, Map, Taxon Identifier Numbers - from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility Oecetis inconspicua at GBIF
Photos, Map, Museum specimens, DNA - Barcodinglife.org
University of Alberta Entomology Collection Species page
Has description, habitat information, range and more.
References
Al Mousa,MDA 2020 Studies on the Odonata and Trichoptera of high-elevation lakes of northern Colorado and southern Wyoming. MS Thesis, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado. 187 pages. PDF
Quote from page 83: "The geographically widespread and common caddisfly, the Plain Red-Brown Long Horn Sedge Oecetis inconspicua (Walker, 1852) was recorded from two locations in Boulder and Larimer counties at an elevation range of 2,835-3,100m in the years 1994 and 1995 (Fig. 3.3, Tables 3.1 & 3.3, Appendix
4)."
Chen,YE 1993 Revision of the Oecetis (Trichoptera: Leptoceridae) of the world. Doctoral dissertation, Clemson University, Clemson, SC. 694 pp. PDF
Cooper,CM 1980 Effects of abnormal thermal stratification on a reservoir benthic macroinvertebrate community. American Midland Naturalist 103(1) 149-154.
Abstract: The benthos of Grenada Reservoir, Mississippi, was examined during 1973-1976, when periods of flooding caused abnormally high water levels. The increased water levels resulted in prolonged abnormal hypolimnial stagnation due to lack of normal reservoir drawdown procedures. The stagnation in 1973 caused massive kills of immature Hexagenia bilineata and Oecetis inconspicua larvae in the reservoir conservation pool. Recolonization of the reservoir in 1974 by Hexagenia and Oecetis was unsuccessful due to recurrence of stagnation. The lengthy stagnation changed the structure of the benthic community, and the Hexagenia-Oecetis-Chaoborus-Chironomidae community was replaced by a Limnodrilus-Chaoborus-Chironomidae community. Production initially decreased but later recovered.
Floyd,MA 1992 The biology and distribution of Oecetis larvae in North America (Trichoptera: Leptoceridae). Proceedings of the 7th International Symposium on Trichoptera 1992:87-91.
Floyd,MA 1995 Larvae of the Caddisfly genus Oecetis (Trichoptera: Leptoceridae) in North America. Ohio Biological Survey, Columbus OH.
Walker,F 1852 Catalogue of the Specimens of Neuropterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum. London : British Museum (1): 1-192.
Described as Leptocerus inconspicua on pages 71 and 72.
Zhou,X; Adamowicz,SJ; Jacobus,LM; DeWalt,RE and Hebert,PD 2009 Towards a comprehensive barcode library for arctic life-Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera of Churchill, Manitoba, Canada. Frontiers in zoology, 6(1), p.30. HTML
Zuellig,RE; Heinold,BD; Kondratieff,BC and Ruiter,DE 2012 Diversity and Distribution of Mayflies (Ephemeroptera), Stoneflies (Plecoptera), and Caddisflies (Trichoptera) of the South Platte River Basin, Colorado, Nebraska, and Wyoming, 1873-2010. U.S. Geological Survey Data Series 606, 257 p. PDF - caution 46MB
Quote from page 81: "Oecetis inconspicua is one of the most widespread Oecetis species in North America, and likely comprises a species complex of several different phenotypes (Floyd, 1995)." The elevation range is 2,850-10,150 feet and the adults emerge from June-September.
Zullo,S and Bates,N1983 Occurrence of Oecetis inconspicua (Walker) in an acid strip-mine lake of southern Illinois. Trans. IL State Acad. Sci. 72(3-4):293-296.
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