Salmonflies
Pteronarcys californica
The giant Salmonflies of the Western mountains are legendary for their proclivity to elicit consistent dry-fly action and ferocious strikes.
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It's only barely visible in one of my pictures, but I confirmed under the microscope that this one has a prosternal horn and the antennae are mid-way between the eyes and front of the head capsule.
I'm calling this one Pycnopsyche, but it's a bit perplexing. It seems to key definitively to at least Couplet 8 of the Key to Genera of Limnephilidae Larvae. That narrows it down to three genera, and the case seems wrong for the other two. The case looks right for Pycnopsyche, and it fits one of the key characteristics: "Abdominal sternum II without chloride epithelium and abdominal segment IX with only single seta on each side of dorsal sclerite." However, the characteristic "metanotal sa1 sclerites not fused, although often contiguous" does not seem to fit well. Those sclerites sure look fused to me, although I can make out a thin groove in the touching halves in the anterior half under the microscope. Perhaps this is a regional variation.
The only species of Pycnopsyche documented in Washington state is Pycnopsyche guttifera, and the colors and markings around the head of this specimen seem to match very well a specimen of that species from Massachusetts on Bugguide. So I am placing it in that species for now.
Whatever species this is, I photographed another specimen of seemingly the same species from the same spot a couple months later.
I'm calling this one Pycnopsyche, but it's a bit perplexing. It seems to key definitively to at least Couplet 8 of the Key to Genera of Limnephilidae Larvae. That narrows it down to three genera, and the case seems wrong for the other two. The case looks right for Pycnopsyche, and it fits one of the key characteristics: "Abdominal sternum II without chloride epithelium and abdominal segment IX with only single seta on each side of dorsal sclerite." However, the characteristic "metanotal sa1 sclerites not fused, although often contiguous" does not seem to fit well. Those sclerites sure look fused to me, although I can make out a thin groove in the touching halves in the anterior half under the microscope. Perhaps this is a regional variation.
The only species of Pycnopsyche documented in Washington state is Pycnopsyche guttifera, and the colors and markings around the head of this specimen seem to match very well a specimen of that species from Massachusetts on Bugguide. So I am placing it in that species for now.
Whatever species this is, I photographed another specimen of seemingly the same species from the same spot a couple months later.
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Gray-Winged Brown Quills
Like most common names,"Gray-Winged Brown Quill" can refer to more than one taxon. They're previewed below, along with 1 specimen. For more detail click through to the scientific names.
Mayfly Species Baetis intercalaris
These are very rarely called Gray-Winged Brown Quills.
Mayfly Species Acentrella turbida
These are very rarely called Gray-Winged Brown Quills.
Although these mayflies are tiny, in places their numbers compensate for their small size and make for excellent hatches.
Rick Hafele and Dave Hughes in Western Mayfly Hatches rate turbida as one of the three most "key" western species of Baetidae, alongside Baetis tricaudatus and Diphetor hageni. In the West, turbida is more variable in size and appearance than its eastern iteration, in keeping with the large and varied regions it inhabits. It can run as small as 3.5 mm and as large as 5 mm, the larger sizes tending to be more brownish. It is often confused with the smaller broods of Diphetor hageni, but its conical mesonotal projection, lack of hind-wings, exaggerated turbinate eyes (hence its name) and stockier build help to differentiate it.
They are often found on the water with a mix of other Baetidae mayflies, making for very challenging fishing.
Rick Hafele and Dave Hughes in Western Mayfly Hatches rate turbida as one of the three most "key" western species of Baetidae, alongside Baetis tricaudatus and Diphetor hageni. In the West, turbida is more variable in size and appearance than its eastern iteration, in keeping with the large and varied regions it inhabits. It can run as small as 3.5 mm and as large as 5 mm, the larger sizes tending to be more brownish. It is often confused with the smaller broods of Diphetor hageni, but its conical mesonotal projection, lack of hind-wings, exaggerated turbinate eyes (hence its name) and stockier build help to differentiate it.
They are often found on the water with a mix of other Baetidae mayflies, making for very challenging fishing.
See 3 more specimens...
References
- Hafele, Rick and Hughes, Dave. 2004. Western Mayfly Hatches. Frank Amato Publications.