Locality based caddisfly (Hydropsyche oslari) sampling data and CO1 sequences from the southwestern United States, 2013-2016

These data were compiled for a mtDNA (CO1 gene) analysis of net-spinning caddisflies (Hydropsyche oslari) in the Colorado River Basin of the western United States. They were incorporated in a study that investigated the genetic diversity and population structure of H. oslari relative to the river network structure in the Upper and Lower Colorado River Basins. The data were collected from 2015 to 2016 through a collaboration with river runners. These citizen scientists collected insects by deploying light traps for one hour each night of their expedition. Light trap contents were preserved in ethanol on site and returned to the Southwest Biological Science Center in Flagstaff, Arizona for analysis in the laboratory.