Small Ballast Caddisfly vs Long-horned Ant-loving Beetle

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Small Ballast Caddisfly Long-horned Ant-loving Beetle
Scientific Name Silo pallipes Claviger longicornis
Order Trichoptera Coleoptera
Family Goeridae Staphylinidae
Size 7-10 mm 2-3 mm
Habitat Rivers & Streams Underground
Diet Omnivores Omnivores
Regions Europe Central and Southern Europe
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Small Ballast Caddisfly

A small caddisfly that cements large pebbles to its mineral case for ballast in fast water. Found exclusively in clean calcareous streams.

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Did You Know?

Larvae select ballast stones of remarkably uniform size relative to their body mass.

Long-horned Ant-loving Beetle

A minute, blind pselaphine rove beetle with elongate antennae relative to its body size. Like its congeners, it is an obligate myrmecophile entirely dependent on host ants for nutrition.

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Did You Know?

The elongate antennae of this blind beetle serve as its primary sensory organs for navigating the total darkness of its underground ant-nest home.