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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.

Lateral view of a Female Sweltsa borealis (Chloroperlidae) (Boreal Sallfly) Stonefly Adult from Harris Creek in Washington
I was not fishing, but happened to be at an unrelated social event on a hill above this tiny creek (which I never even saw) when this stonefly flew by me. I assume it came from there. Some key characteristics are tricky to follow, but process of elimination ultimately led me to Sweltsa borealis. It is reassuringly similar to this specimen posted by Bob Newell years ago. It is also so strikingly similar to this nymph from the same river system that I'm comfortable identifying that nymph from this adult. I was especially pleased with the closeup photo of four mites parasitizing this one.
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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Female Brachycentrus americanus (American Grannom) Caddisfly Adult Pictures

Size 11 mm. Prior to this photo the specimen dropped its large egg mass that was a very dark (almost black) olive sphere almost twice the diameter of the abdomen. Notice the abdomen visible through the wings is both thickened and shortened post egg drop.

This caddisfly was collected from the Fall River in California on October 15th, 2011 and added to Troutnut.com by Entoman on October 21st, 2011.

Discussions of this Adult

locality
2 replies
Posted by Creno on Oct 21, 2011
Last reply on Oct 21, 2011 by Troutnut
there is a link for the locality however the link does not work. Is it possible to include locality information with the image itself? That way when a link is broke in the future it is still possible to associate the specimen with the location, date, collector, etc.

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Female Brachycentrus americanus (American Grannom) Caddisfly Adult Pictures

Collection details
Location: Fall River, California
Date: October 15th, 2011
Added to site: October 21st, 2011
Author: Entoman
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