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Lateral view of a Male Baetis (Baetidae) (Blue-Winged Olive) Mayfly Dun from Mystery Creek #43 in New York
Blue-winged Olives
Baetis

Tiny Baetis mayflies are perhaps the most commonly encountered and imitated by anglers on all American trout streams due to their great abundance, widespread distribution, and trout-friendly emergence habits.

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 Dolophilodes distincta (Tiny Black Gold Speckled-Winged Caddis) Caddisfly Adult Pictures

This is a really strange specimen. I would guess it's one of the dry caddis pupa that scoots across the surface of the water as a pupa rather than emerging right away. Its "wing pads" sure don't look right, though. Maybe they're deformed and that's why I was able to find this one as a pupa in the first place. It also looks like it might be a caddis adult missing its wings, but since I found three of them, that kind of rules out such an anomalous maiming.

I found this one and one other on a midstream rock. The previous day, I caught a similar creature kicking around on the water's surface.

This one died and shriveled a little bit before I could photograph it, but it's basically in its original shape.

Ruler view of a Female Dolophilodes distincta (Philopotamidae) (Tiny Black Gold Speckled-Winged Caddis) Caddisfly Adult from Brodhead Creek in Pennsylvania The smallest ruler marks are 1 mm.
Female Dolophilodes distincta (Philopotamidae) (Tiny Black Gold Speckled-Winged Caddis) Caddisfly Adult from Brodhead Creek in Pennsylvania
Dorsal view of a Female Dolophilodes distincta (Philopotamidae) (Tiny Black Gold Speckled-Winged Caddis) Caddisfly Adult from Brodhead Creek in Pennsylvania
Ventral view of a Female Dolophilodes distincta (Philopotamidae) (Tiny Black Gold Speckled-Winged Caddis) Caddisfly Adult from Brodhead Creek in Pennsylvania
Female Dolophilodes distincta (Philopotamidae) (Tiny Black Gold Speckled-Winged Caddis) Caddisfly Adult from Brodhead Creek in Pennsylvania
Female Dolophilodes distincta (Philopotamidae) (Tiny Black Gold Speckled-Winged Caddis) Caddisfly Adult from Brodhead Creek in Pennsylvania

This caddisfly was collected from Brodhead Creek in Pennsylvania on May 29th, 2007 and added to Troutnut.com by Troutnut on June 4th, 2007.

Discussions of this Adult

Dolophilodes adult
3 replies
Posted by Ictodd on Jun 7, 2007
Last reply on Nov 22, 2007 by GONZO
Ross (1944) mentions that Dolophilodes (Trentonius) distinctus adults "...remarkable b/c of the production of adults during the entire year, incl. the winter months, and the wingless condition of most of the females.....records indicate the females produced during the colder months are all wingless.....Winged females have been taken during the warmer months of the year." He goes on to mention that wing presence is caused by temperature reactions influencing late larvae. Was it a really cold stream? Seems late for ambient air influences.
Dragonfly nymph?
12 replies
Posted by Taxon on Jun 4, 2007
Last reply on Jun 13, 2007 by Litobrancha
Ignoring the (perhaps deformed) wing pads, to me at least, the general body shape looks a lot more like a dragonfly nymph.

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Female Dolophilodes distincta (Tiny Black Gold Speckled-Winged Caddis) Caddisfly Adult Pictures

Collection details
Location: Brodhead Creek, Pennsylvania
Date: May 29th, 2007
Added to site: June 4th, 2007
Author: Troutnut
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