Caddisfly Larva

caddisfly larva, originally uploaded by heatherkh.

This is from Heather at her Flickr Photostream. I have never seen or even heard of one of this guys before. This is apparently a Caddisfly larva. " The cased caddisfly larvae builds a protective housing, providing it with weight (ballast) and a defence against predators. Depending on the habitat and species of caddisfly, the case itself is made from small pieces of sediment or debris, held together by modified saliva." ( thanks to Slapton Ley, Bringing Environmental Understanding To All)