| - | Abdominal segments 1-7 each have a pair of lateral filaments |
| - | Abdomen: ends in a single long filament |
| - | Color: light tan to brown |
| - | Length: 6mm - 18 mm |
| - | Growth instars: 10-11 |
| - | Larva crawls out of water to pupate, so pupa is not available to fish |
| - | Pronotum: thick, as wide or wider than head |
| - | Wings: held tent like over body when at rest |
| - | Antennae: ½ body length |
| - | Tails: absent |
| - | Body and wings: smoky-gray or black |
| - | Length: 6 mm - 16 mm |
The alderfly pupa isn’t available to fish, as the larva crawls out of the water onto shore before pupating.
The alderfly adult (when at rest) holds its wings tent-like, similar to a caddisfly adult. However, alderfly adults can be easily differentiated from caddisfly adults by the length of their antennae. Antennae of alderfly adult are only ½ the body length, as opposed to the caddisfly adults, whose antennae are as long as (or longer than) the body length.