Unusual water creature - Caddisfly Larvae

I had no idea what this strange thing is when I saw it. If I didn't see it moving around and eating at the plants underwater, I would've thought it was just a rock or piece of wood floating around in the swamp.
My wife spotted another one of these the day before, when I took a video of it (see below).
It is possible that the one in the video and the one in the two photos are different species (both photos are of the same specimen).

See the comments below for details on identification.

Video:

Second photo:

comments (6)

Vodkaman

Lion

Looks like some kind of caddis grub. The best clue is at 49" were you get a brief glimpse of the head.

Dave Posted 9 years ago
1. Joe Spandrusyszyn
  
  Lion
  
  One of my Facebook friends also suggested caddisfly. Based on what I'm seeing, I think the one I took video of is probably in the Glossosomatidae family. The one in the photos though might (or might not) be a different family - the case looks a little longer and less dome-shaped to me (though it's very hard to tell for both, because of all the other stuff floating around in the water... and the cases aren't exactly consistent considering their made with basically whatever is around).
  
  And I just found some distribution maps from the NY DEC!
  http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/84581.html
  
  Looks like Glossosoma is the only genus of Glossosomatidae that was recorded nearby... so probably a Glossoma, but I'm going to take a look at the other maps to see if any others make sense. Posted 9 years ago
2. 1. Joe Spandrusyszyn
    
    Lion
    
    Ok... so, in the region, there were (6-32 years ago) species from the following families nearby (assuming the NY DEC biomonitoring records are thorough and accurate)...
    Philopotamidae - these guys make nets, not cases
    Hydroptilidae - these guys are tiny (<5mm)
    Hydropsychidae - another net family
    Helicopsychidae - cases are helix shaped
    Dipseudopsidae - make tubes
    Glossosomatidae - dome shaped cases
    
    So... the only two that might fit for the two I spotted are Glossosomatidae and Helicopsychidae.
    It doesn't look like either of the cases are helix shaped to me, so I'm leaning toward Glossosomatidae, which would mean the Glossosoma genus.
    However, there is a lot of other stuff in the water obscuring the view, so there might be a spiral there that I'm not seeing, which would make it the Helicopsyche genus. Posted 9 years ago

Ferdy Christant

Lion

You have me intrigued, that looks so interesting, and slightly creepy. I've asked for help in a dutch Facebook group. I do think Dave is onto something, check out the bottom video on this page:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caddisfly Posted 9 years ago
1. Ferdy Christant
  
  Lion
  
  Got the same answer on my Facebook request: Trichoptera. Nothing more specific than that though. Posted 9 years ago

Vodkaman

Lion

Very good work.

I think the only way you are going to get further, is to catch one and break it out for a more detailed examination and photo session. There is a draft key to caddis that might help if you catch one for the lab:
http://www.gunnisoninsects.org/trichoptera/key_trichoptera_family_larvae.html

Dave Posted 9 years ago

No species identified

The species on this photo is not identified yet. When signed in, you can identify species on photos that you uploaded. If you have earned the social image editing capability, you can also identify species on photos uploaded by others.