Hex Mayflies
Hexagenia limbata
The famous nocturnal Hex hatch of the Midwest (and a few other lucky locations) stirs to the surface mythically large brown trout that only touch streamers for the rest of the year.
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This one seems to lead to Couplet 35 of the Key to Genera of Perlodidae Nymphs and the genus Isoperla, but I'm skeptical that's correct based on the general look. I need to get it under the microscope to review several choices in the key, and it'll probably end up a different Perlodidae.
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Caddisfly Genus Leucotrichia (Ring Horn Microcaddisflies)
See Leucotrichia pictipes for details. It is the only important species of this genus in our trout streams.
Genus Range
2 Underwater Pictures of Leucotrichia Caddisflies:
The white blotches on this rock are Leucotrichia caddisfly cases, and the wispy tubes are cases made by a type of midge.
There's a stonefly nymph in the bottom right corner of this picture, but what's really interesting is those white blotches. They're pretty common in my Wisconsin home river river, stuck flat onto the rocks--lots of rocks have a speckled look as a result. They are microcaddis cases, made by larvae of the caddisfly family Hydroptilidae. These are made by larvae of the subfamily Leucotrichiinae, most likely the genus Leucotrichia. They spin little flat oval cases of silk tight and immobile against the rocks.
In this picture: Caddisfly Species Leucotrichia pictipes (Ring Horn Microcaddis).
Discussions of Leucotrichia
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References
- Swisher, Doug and Carl Richards. 2000. Selective Trout. The Lyons Press.
