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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 Ephemerella mucronata (Ephemerellidae) Mayfly Nymph from the Yakima River in Washington
This is an interesting one. Following the keys in Merritt R.W., Cummins, K.W., and Berg, M.B. (2019) and Jacobus et al. (2014), it keys clearly to Ephemerella. Jacobus et al provide a key to species, but some of the characteristics are tricky to interpret without illustrations. If I didn't make any mistakes, this one keys to Ephemerella mucronata, which has not previously been reported any closer to here than Montana and Alberta. The main character seems to fit well: "Abdominal terga with prominent, paired, subparallel, spiculate ridges." Several illustrations or descriptions of this holarctic species from the US and Europe seem to match, including the body length, tarsal claws and denticles, labial palp, and gill shapes. These sources include including Richard Allen's original description of this species in North America under the now-defunct name E. moffatae in Allen RK (1977) and the figures in this description of the species in Italy.
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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Not even fishing this time

By Troutnut on May 5th, 2023
My wife and I went to the the Camlann Medieval Village in the foothills of the Cascades east of Seattle last night, which was the last place I expected to collect bugs for the website. But there was small creek rushing through the valley below, and reflexes kicked in when this stonefly flew past my face. It mostly survived the ride home in a random pocket of my wife's purse, minus a couple legs and antennal segments. It made for some good pictures, especially closeups of the four red mites riding its back.

Closeup insects by Troutnut from Harris Creek in Washington

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.

Updates from May 4, 2023

Just a big old caddis larva

By Troutnut on April 13th, 2023
I revisited the Yakima to see if I could find any more nymphs of the species I suspect to be Ephemerella mucronata, which is new to these parts, so I can try to raise the nymphs into adults and confirm. I did catch a couple. I also found this big caddis larva and tested out some new techniques with my camera gear, with mixed results.

Closeup insects by Troutnut from the Yakima River in Washington

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.

Some winter nymph collecting on the Yakima

By Troutnut on February 17th, 2023
I was in the vicinity of the upper Yakima River this weekend, but not in a good spot to try any winter fishing. So I brought my bug collecting supplies and sampled a bunch of nymphs and larvae, aiming to get some more good images to illustrate the new taxonomic keys. I was hoping to find a nice intact Skwala stonefly nymph to add to the beat-up one on the site already, a Nemouridae stonefly nymph for some proper anatomical close-ups, ditto for Capniidae or Leuctridae, and a variety of cased caddis larvae because I just don't have very many recent pictures of those with my best equipment. I met all these goals with the exception of Capniidae and Leuctridae, which will have to wait for another trip. On the way home I also stuck the net in a creek slightly closer to home and turned up some Epeorus nymphs, mostly Epeorus grandis which I didn't bother to photograph, but one from the Epeorus albertae group.

The unexpected highlight of the trip did not become apparent until after some time at the microscope. It seems I collected a several nymphs of Ephemerella mucronata, an obscure relative of the Hendrickson and Sulphur hatches, which has a holarctic distribution but has not previously been documented any closer to Washington than Montana and Alberta. However, there is a chance they belong to some other species not well-described as nymphs yet. I hope to collect more mature specimens and rear a few into adults to get a more definitive species ID.

Photos by Troutnut from the Yakima River in Washington

The Yakima River in Washington
The Yakima River in Washington

Closeup insects by Troutnut from the Yakima River and the East Fork Issaquah Creek in Washington

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