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.
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This wild-looking little thing completely puzzled me. At first I was thinking beetle or month larva, until I got a look at the pictures on the computer screen. I made a couple of incorrect guesses before entomologist Greg Courtney pointed me in the right direction with Psychodidae. He suggested a possible genus of Thornburghiella, but could not rule out some other members of the tribe Pericomini.
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Inchworms
This common name refers to only one family. Click its scientific name to learn more.
Moth Family Geometridae
These are pretty much always called Inchworms.
These terrestrial moths are sometimes taken by trout when their larvae, the well-known inchworms, dangle by their little silken threads in especially high numbers around June. They may be abundant enough throughout the forest that plenty dangle their way into the water.
I caught this inchworm lowering itself to the surface of a trout stream from its silk thread. I saw a couple others floating on the surface, so it's likely the trout were familiar with them.