Phylogenetic Relationships

There has been considerable disagreement about the basal relationships of Trichoptera. This has resulted not only in different hypotheses about the evolutionary history of the group, but also in a confusion in the use of taxonomic categories, since different authors use different terminology, or have been inconsistent in how certain taxonomic categories have been used. In general, three major groups have been recognized, more or less corresponding to the different ecological adaptations of the larvae. We refer to these by their most common subordinal names, Annulipalpia, Spicipalpia, and Integripalpia (each in its most restricted sense and as used by Wiggins and Wichard 1989). However, the respective superordinal names of Hydropsychoidea, Rhyacophiloidea, and Limnephiloidea, respectively (sensu Ross 1956, Neboiss 1991), have sometimes been used to refer to groups of equivalent taxonomic coverage.

Morse (1997) provided a thorough summary of the hypotheses of relationships proposed for the major groups of Trichoptera and also of the status of phylogenetic work at the family and genus level undertaken to date. Ross (1956) was the first to identify explicitly any derived characters for caddisfly taxa. He recognized two monophyletic suborders, Annulipalpia (equivalent to his superfamily Hydropsychoidea) and Integripalpia. These subordinal names were first established by Martynov (1924). Ross's Integripalpia contained two superfamilies, Rhyacophiloidea and Limnephiloidea. These superfamilies are equivalent to the suborders Spicipalpia and Integripalpia, as used here. However, Ross's Rhyacophiloidea (Spicipalpia) was paraphyletic as originally defined.

From: Holzenthal, Blahnik, and Prather on the Tree of Life Web-site