Rare Species Guide

  Basis for Listing

Anabolia ozburni (a northern caddisfly) is known prior to 1965 from the northwestern third of the state. Extensive recent surveys; however, have located it from only single sites in Hubbard and Douglas counties (Chippewa Plains and Hardwood Hills subsections) and a series of adjacent sites in Becker and Mahnomen counties (Pine Moraines & Outwash Plains and Hardwood Hills subsections). All recent collections were of adults in June and July. A total of six specimens have been collected since 1965. Anabolia ozburni was listed as a special concern species in Minnesota in 2013.

  Description

Mature larvae of A. ozburni are around 2.5 cm (0.98 in.) in length. They are yellow-brown in color with darker, coalescing spots on their head and thorax. They construct tubular cases of twigs and leaf pieces arranged lengthwise. Adults are 1.4-1.8 cm (0.55-0.71 in.) in length with females larger than males. Both genders are brown in color with darker reticulations on the forewings. Specimens of A. ozburni can be confused with the far more abundant A. bimaculata and A. consocia. Of the three species, A. ozburni is the smallest. Specimens can be definitively identified only by a close examination of the terminal abdominal segments under a microscope. Houghton (2012) has developed an identification manual and key to the caddisflies of Minnesota.

  Habitat

Little is known about the specific habitat requirements of A. ozburni. All recent populations have been found in slow-moving streams, often right at their lentic headwaters. Anabolia species tend to be intolerant of habitat disturbance, especially that of the riparian zone since they depend on terrestrial input for their food source and case-building materials.

  Biology / Life History

Little is known about the specific life cycle of A. ozburni. Larvae probably spend a year under the water consuming vascular plant tissue before emerging as winged adults during the summer. All adult specimens in Minnesota were caught during June and July.

  Conservation / Management

Limnephilid caddisflies in general have decreased throughout Minnesota since the 1950s primarily due to riparian habitat loss. This decrease has been especially profound in the northwestern portion of the state. The loss of A. ozburni from much of its historical range in northwestern Minnesota is alarming and is probably also due to changes in riparian habitat. Establishing buffer zones between human disturbance and potential A. ozburni habitat is probably the best approach to protecting the species. Further research is necessary to identify any additional populations of the species as well as its specific habitat needs.

  Conservation Efforts in Minnesota

Field surveys in conjunction with a University of Minnesota study on the Caddisflies of Minnesota (Houghton et al. 2001), have been conducted to search for additional populations of this species, and an identification manual and key to Minnesota caddisflies has been developed (Houghton 2012).   

  References and Additional Information

Houghton, David C. 2012. Biological diversity of the Minnesota caddisflies (Insecta, Trichoptera). ZooKeys 189:1-389.

Houghton, D. C. 2007. The effects of landscape-level disturbance on the composition of Minnesota caddisfly (Insecta: Trichoptera) trophic functional groups: evidence for ecosystem homogenization. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 135(1-3):253-264.

Houghton, D. C., and D. W. Holzenthal. 2010. Historical and contemporary biological diversity of Minnesota caddisflies: a case study of landscape-level species loss and trophic composition shift. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 29(2):480-495.

Houghton, D. C., R. E. Dewalt, A. J. Pytel, C. M. Brandin, S. E. Rogers, D. E. Ruiter, E. Bright, P. L. Hudson, and B. J. Armitage. In press. Updated checklist of the Michigan (USA) caddisflies, with regional and habitat affinities. Zoosymposia.

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. 2003. Field guide to the native plant communities of Minnesota: the Laurentian mixed forest province. Ecological Land Classification Program, Minnesota County Biological Survey, and Natural Heritage and Nongame Research Program. Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, St. Paul, Minnesota. 352 pp.

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. 2005. Field guide to the native plant communities of Minnesota: the eastern broadleaf forest province. Ecological Land Classification Program, Minnesota County Biological Survey, and Natural Heritage and Nongame Research Program. Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, St. Paul, Minnesota. 394 pp.

Schmid, F. 1950. Le genre Anabolia Steph. (Trichoptera, Limnophilidae [sic]). Revue Suisse d'Hydrologie 12:300-359.

University of Minnesota Department of Entomology Insect Collection. 2009. UMSP Trichoptera: caddisflies. University of Minnesota, St. Paul. <http://www.entomology.umn.edu/museum/databases/>. Accessed 05 August 2009.

Wiggins, G. B. 1996. Larvae of the North American caddisfly genera (Trichoptera), Second edition. University of Toronto Press, Ontario, Canada. 457 pp.