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Lateral view of a Female Hexagenia limbata (Ephemeridae) (Hex) Mayfly Dun from the Namekagon River in Wisconsin
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.

Case view of a Pycnopsyche guttifera (Limnephilidae) (Great Autumn Brown Sedge) Caddisfly Larva from the Yakima River in Washington
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.
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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Male Calineuria californica (Golden Stone) Stonefly Adult Pictures

A few of these larger stoneflies were fluttering around the South Fork on an evening dominated by much smaller species.

This one has been difficult to identify. I can't spot any of the gill remnants characteristic of Perlidae, but the wing venation seems to point in that direction. I tried keying it out as Perlodidae but arrived at Isoperla, every western species of which has significantly smaller bodies than this one.

Edit: See forum comments for a likely correct identification.

Lateral view of a Male Calineuria californica (Perlidae) (Golden Stone) Stonefly Adult from the South Fork Snoqualmie River in Washington
Male Calineuria californica (Perlidae) (Golden Stone) Stonefly Adult from the South Fork Snoqualmie River in Washington
Male Calineuria californica (Perlidae) (Golden Stone) Stonefly Adult from the South Fork Snoqualmie River in Washington
Ventral view of a Male Calineuria californica (Perlidae) (Golden Stone) Stonefly Adult from the South Fork Snoqualmie River in Washington
Ruler view of a Male Calineuria californica (Perlidae) (Golden Stone) Stonefly Adult from the South Fork Snoqualmie River in Washington The smallest ruler marks are 1 mm.
Male Calineuria californica (Perlidae) (Golden Stone) Stonefly Adult from the South Fork Snoqualmie River in Washington
Male Calineuria californica (Perlidae) (Golden Stone) Stonefly Adult from the South Fork Snoqualmie River in Washington
Male Calineuria californica (Perlidae) (Golden Stone) Stonefly Adult from the South Fork Snoqualmie River in Washington
Male Calineuria californica (Perlidae) (Golden Stone) Stonefly Adult from the South Fork Snoqualmie River in Washington
Taken with my usual glare-reducing polarized light and filter.

Male Calineuria californica (Perlidae) (Golden Stone) Stonefly Adult from the South Fork Snoqualmie River in Washington
Taken without my usual glare-reducing polarized light and filter, so the glare might enhance some details.

Male Calineuria californica (Perlidae) (Golden Stone) Stonefly Adult from the South Fork Snoqualmie River in Washington
Taken without my usual glare-reducing polarized light and filter, so the glare might enhance some details.

Male Calineuria californica (Perlidae) (Golden Stone) Stonefly Adult from the South Fork Snoqualmie River in Washington
Taken with my usual glare-reducing polarized light and filter.

Male Calineuria californica (Perlidae) (Golden Stone) Stonefly Adult from the South Fork Snoqualmie River in Washington
Male Calineuria californica (Perlidae) (Golden Stone) Stonefly Adult from the South Fork Snoqualmie River in Washington
I plan to try to start capturing wing venation in more of my photos for better identifiability.

Dorsal view of a Male Calineuria californica (Perlidae) (Golden Stone) Stonefly Adult from the South Fork Snoqualmie River in Washington

This stonefly was collected from the South Fork Snoqualmie River in Washington on July 20th, 2019 and added to Troutnut.com by Troutnut on July 22nd, 2019.

Discussions of this Adult

Hesperoperla or Calineuria
2 replies
Posted by Millcreek on Jul 22, 2019
Last reply on Jul 22, 2019 by Millcreek
Hesperoperla or Calineuria. Just a guess. These are similar to ones I've netted in California. The gill remnants don't always show and can be difficult to spot when they do. The size is right and the wing veining as well.

Here's a picture at bugguide of Hesperoperla.

https://bugguide.net/node/view/1257709

I'm leaning more towards Calineuria.
https://www.zoology.ubc.ca/~biodiv/entomology/main/Plecoptera/Perlidae/Calineuria%20californica%20(1dorsal).jpg

And here's a view of Hesperoperla's wings.

https:/bugguide.net/node/view/41324/bgimage

Start a Discussion of Adult

Male Calineuria californica (Golden Stone) Stonefly Adult Pictures

Collection details
Location: South Fork Snoqualmie River, Washington
Date: July 20th, 2019
Added to site: July 22nd, 2019
Author: Troutnut
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