Salmonflies
Pteronarcys californica
The giant Salmonflies of the Western mountains are legendary for their proclivity to elicit consistent dry-fly action and ferocious strikes.
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I caught this tiny larva without a case, but it seems to key pretty clearly to to Glossosomatidae. From there, the lack of sclerites on the mesonotum points to either Glossosoma or Anagapetus. Although it's difficult to see in a 2D image from the microscope, it's pretty clear in the live 3D view that the pronotum is only excised about 1/3 of its length to accommodate the forecoxa, not 2/3, which points to Glossosoma at Couplet 5 of the Key to Genera of Glossosomatidae Larvae.
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Updates from March 17, 2004
Closeup insects by Troutnut from Miscellaneous Wisconsin and the Namekagon River in Wisconsin
I found this nymph wriggling in the surface film during a hatch of related Strophopteryx adults. This nymph died in transport so it's not alive in the photos, but it's pretty close to its live colors.
Updates from March 16, 2004
Closeup insects by Troutnut from the Namekagon River and Miscellaneous Wisconsin in Wisconsin
This is one of the nymphs I collected doing something very, very strange on March 17th 2004. In the middle of the day, around 2 pm, in the water right around my feet I watched lots of Ephemerella nymphs clumsily swimming up all the way to the surface and then just kind of drifting and wiggling around in the water column. None hatched. They seemed to do it more intensely when the sun was out. It wasn't the time of day for the normal invertebrate drift phenomenon, and as far as I know invertebrate drift doesn't involve this kind of clear effort to swim all the way to the surface. I didn't need a net to catch them, I just reached down into the water and grabbed them with my fingers just below the surface.
The prominent abdominal tubercles aren't quite black, though, and the general color is a dark brown, though I saw nymphs with all Hendrickson color stages behaving strangely.
The prominent abdominal tubercles aren't quite black, though, and the general color is a dark brown, though I saw nymphs with all Hendrickson color stages behaving strangely.
Here's another of the nymphs I collected behaving strangely, as described for this specimen.
Updates from March 15, 2004
Closeup insects by Troutnut from the Namekagon River in Wisconsin
Several stoneflies of this species were the first adult insects I found in 2004 when I started this site. The hatch was sparse but lasted a good part of the day, and I noted a few good rises despite the early season cold. They ended up struggling on the water's surface fairly often.
Several stoneflies of this species were the first adult insects I found in 2004 when I started this site. The hatch was sparse but lasted a good part of the day, and I noted a few good rises despite the early season cold. They ended up struggling on the water's surface fairly often.
This male died overnight before I had the chance to photograph him, so his abdomen is shorter than it should be because it shriveled a bit.
