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Artistic view of a Male Pteronarcys californica (Pteronarcyidae) (Giant Salmonfly) Stonefly Adult from the Gallatin River in Montana
Salmonflies
Pteronarcys californica

The giant Salmonflies of the Western mountains are legendary for their proclivity to elicit consistent dry-fly action and ferocious strikes.

Dorsal view of a Limnephilidae (Giant Sedges) Caddisfly Larva from the Yakima River in Washington
This specimen resembled several others of around the same size and perhaps the same species, which were pretty common in my February sample from the upper Yakima. Unfortunately, I misplaced the specimen before I could get it under a microscope for a definitive ID.
27" brown trout, my largest ever. It was the sub-dominant fish in its pool. After this, I hooked the bigger one, but I couldn't land it.
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Little Tan Short-horned Caddis

This common name refers to only one genus. Click its scientific name to learn more.

Caddisfly Genus Glossosoma

These are often called Little Tan Short-horned Caddis.
The sporadic emergence of these caddisflies diminishes the importance of the freshly emerged adults and pupae, but they have unique periods of vulnerability as larvae during the day and again as diving egg layers at dusk that can make them very important. A taxon can only have one common name attached in the title but this is one of those genera whose species come in a variety of colors and descriptive common names. In the West their bodies generally come in tan to brown shades with matching wings, their wings can be speckled grayish tan or even almost black as with an eastern species. Some western rivers have astounding populations. See Glossosomatidae for more information.
Glossosoma (Glossosomatidae) (Little Brown Short-horned Sedge) Caddisfly Adult from the Big Thompson River in Montana
Dorsal view of a Glossosoma (Glossosomatidae) (Little Brown Short-horned Sedge) Caddisfly Larva from the Yakima River in Washington
I caught this tiny larva without a case, but it seems to key pretty clearly to to Glossosomatidae. From there, the lack of sclerites on the mesonotum points to either Glossosoma or Anagapetus. Although it's difficult to see in a 2D image from the microscope, it's pretty clear in the live 3D view that the pronotum is only excised about 1/3 of its length to accommodate the forecoxa, not 2/3, which points to Glossosoma at Couplet 5 of the Key to Genera of Glossosomatidae Larvae.

Little Tan Short-horned Caddis

Scientific Name
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