Data comprise resistance of aquatic bioconstructions (Trichoptera cases), and the loose sediment they were built from, to hydraulic forces measured in a hydraulic flume. S1_Velocimetry_data contains the output after post-processing the acoustic Doppler velocimetry data for each flow stage. This includes the mean and SD of velocity (m/s) for each direction (U – downstream, V – vertical and W- cross stream), the quality of the data recorded by the ADV (Signal to noise ratio and correlation) and calculated values of turbulent kinetic energy and bed shear stress. An explanation of each variable and units are included in the file. S2_Case-grain-size-distribution_data contains the grain size distributions for each caddisfly case obtained by sieving the case sediment. Includes the mass of sediment in half phi size intervals from 0.063 mm to 8 mm diameter. An explanation of each variable and units are included in the file. S3_Entrainment_data contains the percentage of sediment entrained during each flow stage (1-11). Percentage of sediment measured using photography of sediment remaining on the measurement platform. An explanation of each variable and units are included in the file. S4_Case-and-entrainment-threshold_data contains the caddisfly case characteristics (mass and a,b&c axes), critical entrainment thresholds and general movement data for each case and loose sediment. An explanation of each variable and units are included in the file. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/cce26277-0b17-4c25-aa08-dd1486f89d9b