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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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Perlidae stonefly nymph. A large predator of clean freshwater streams

Acroneuria abnormis (Perlidae) (Golden Stone) Stonefly Nymph from Fall Creek in New York
GONZO
Site Editor
"Bear Swamp," PA

Posts: 1681
GONZO on Oct 10, 2006October 10th, 2006, 2:08 pm EDT
I've been staring at this one for quite some time. My first impression was lycorias (Boreal Stone, Giant Brown Stonefly). I'm pretty familiar with this species, but I don't know of a good key to Acroneuria at the species level.

The lack of a row of spinules along the occiput of the head and presence of postocular and pronotal fringes all say Acroneuria for sure.
GONZO
Site Editor
"Bear Swamp," PA

Posts: 1681
GONZO on Oct 28, 2008October 28th, 2008, 6:34 am EDT
Jason, I now think that this is probably abnormis rather than lycorias.

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