Is it possible to have an infestation of caddis flies in your house?

Answer 1

I'm not sure what the academic answer would be, but I can tell you from first-hand current experience the answer is a most definitive YES! It's a long story, but suffice it to say all the elements are here for them to invade my woodland home. At first I thought they were casemaking clothing moths (judging by the larvae and larva castings I'd find; that is until I caught some adults and looked at them under a microscope. Caddis flies do indeed spin silk like a moth and the larvae make casings out of whatever material they find available -- in the wild they will use twigs, stones, bits of leaf and dirt to encase themselves; in my house, they've used lint from clothing, dog dander, dust, straw from the broom, wood bark from the firewood box, even the the wooden slats holding up the boxspring of my bed! Just tonight I found a nest of them on the underside of our grill cover -- it's a cheap cover, lined with a type of white fuzzy stuff. and waddayaknow! Caddis flies!