1Insect Systematics Research Laboratory, Department of Zoology, Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University, Rajouri185234, Jammu and Kashmir, India
2High Altitude Regional Centre, Zoological Survey of India, Solan173212, Himachal Pradesh, India
3Department of Life Science, Dalton State College, Dalton, GA30720, USA
*Email: aorfinger@daltonstate.edu (corresponding author)
Online Published on 18 February, 2026.
Among India’s impressive biodiversity is a substantial Trichoptera fauna. The most diverse primary aquatic insect order, the Trichoptera are being described at a rapid rate in India even while the country’s freshwater habitats face myriad pressures. To characterize the Trichoptera fauna of India, the goals of this article are to: (1) provide an updated checklist of the Indian families, genera, and species, complete with state- or territory-level distributional data and (2) estimate the species richness in the country. A total of 27 families, 100 genera, and 1435 species are recorded from India, unevenly divided among the 36 Indian states and territories. An estimated 3401 extant species of the Trichoptera occur in India, indicating a significant Linnaean Shortfall and much work yet to do on the Trichoptera of India.
Aquatic insects, Biodiversity, Caddisfly, Checklist, Linnaean shortfall, Species richness, Wallacean shortfall
