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The Trichoptera, or caddisflies, are traditionally split into two taxonomic subdivisions: the ‘retreat‐making’ Annulipalpia and the ‘case‐making’ Integripalpia (sensu Ross). The monophyly of these groups is well documented; however, the establishment of a third subdivision, ‘Spicipalpia’, and the positions of the five ‘spicipalpian’ families is much debated. In contrast to previous molecular studies using nuclear ribosomal RNA, a recent trichopteran study (using nuclear protein‐coding genes) placed one of these ‘spicipalpian’ families, the free‐living predatory Rhyacophilidae, as the sister taxon to the rest of Trichoptera, a result that has significant implications for both the understanding of trichopteran evolution and its timing. This paper sets out to investigate the relationships of Trichoptera using several newly sequenced genes, together with previously published gene sequences. This dataset is the largest trichopteran …