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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 Pycnopsyche guttifera (Limnephilidae) (Great Autumn Brown Sedge) Caddisfly Larva from the Yakima River in Washington
This specimen appears to be of the same species as this one collected in the same spot two months earlier. The identification of both is tentative. This one suffered some physical damage before being photographed, too, so the colors aren't totally natural. I was mostly photographing it to test out some new camera setting idea, which worked really well for a couple of closeups.
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.
Troutnut is a project started in 2003 by salmonid ecologist Jason "Troutnut" Neuswanger to help anglers and fly tyers unabashedly embrace the entomological side of the sport. Learn more about Troutnut or support the project for an enhanced experience here.

Psephenus (Water Penny) Beetle Larva Pictures

Psephenus (Psephenidae) (Water Penny) Beetle Larva from Fall Creek in New York
Psephenus (Psephenidae) (Water Penny) Beetle Larva from Fall Creek in New York
Psephenus (Psephenidae) (Water Penny) Beetle Larva from Fall Creek in New York
Dorsal view of a Psephenus (Psephenidae) (Water Penny) Beetle Larva from Fall Creek in New York
Here's a "water penny" (a Psephenidae beetle larva) crawling around on a real penny.

Artistic view of a Psephenus (Psephenidae) (Water Penny) Beetle Larva from Fall Creek in New York

This beetle was collected from Fall Creek in New York on March 29th, 2006 and added to Troutnut.com by Troutnut on April 6th, 2006.

Discussions of this Larva

Water Penny nymph
2 replies
Posted by Wbranch on Jan 18, 2014
Last reply on Jan 20, 2014 by Wbranch
I'm pretty sure there are no current flies tied specifically to imitate the Water Penny. I really don't know if they are a significant food source to trout. If I was to tie one I would just use a pair of those round Velcro tabs about 1/2" in diameter and put one tab on the bottom of the hook shank and add some glue and put the other half on top and press them together so the Velcro hook and loops mesh and the glue is distributed well. After the glue dried I could color the top and bottom with various waterproof pens and trim the diameter to match the size of the natural.
Water Penny (ventral image)
2 replies
Posted by LowBudget on Jan 16, 2014
Last reply on Jan 18, 2014 by LowBudget
Lately I've become interested in water pennies, though I can't say why. Is a water penny nymph fly in my future?

Anyway, I took this picture today. It is a live specimen that I collected from Trout Creek, which flows into the Cannonsville Reservoir / West Branch of the Delaware river in New York in October 2013. It's current home is a 2 gallon aquarium it shares with some common stoneflies. I used a 50mm macro lens on a Cannon EOS camera with brown felt as the background. I made a special "V" shaped micro aquarium for it so that it would attach to the side wall and not the bottom so that I could get this picture.



Perhaps I'll be able to rear some adults!

Ed




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Psephenus (Water Penny) Beetle Larva Pictures

Collection details
Location: Fall Creek, New York
Date: March 29th, 2006
Added to site: April 6th, 2006
Author: Troutnut
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