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 specimen keys pretty easily to Onocosmoecus, and it closely resembles a specimen from Alaska which caddis expert Dave Ruiter recognized as this genus. As with that specimen, the only species in the genus documented in this area is Onocosmoecus unicolor, but Dave suggested for that specimen that there might be multiple not-yet-distinguished species under the unicolor umbrella and it would be best to stick with the genus-level ID. I'm doing the same for this one.
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Little Brown Sedges
Like most common names,"Little Brown Sedge" can refer to more than one taxon. They're previewed below, along with 2 specimens. For more detail click through to the scientific names.
Caddisfly Family Lepidostomatidae
These are pretty much always called Little Brown Sedges.
See Lepidostoma for details. It's the only important genus in this family.
The other one, Theliopsyche, is an uncommon Eastern small stream genus.
The other one, Theliopsyche, is an uncommon Eastern small stream genus.
These specimens are still alive, just very cold, so the colors are accurate. I put them in the freezer for a bit to settle them down and overdid it a little:)
The photo of the specimen cased is alive. The photo of the uncased larva is the same specimen taken after it was preserved in its case. Unfortunately, there was a lot of pigment transfer making the specimen look olivaceous. In life it was grayish white as shown in the first photo.
See 8 more specimens...
Caddisfly Species Lepidostoma podagrum
These are pretty much always called Little Brown Sedges.
This species can be distinguished from other Lepidostoma by its swollen & scaly foretibiae. This is an important species in some western locales and often precipitates excellent angling opportunities. See the Lepidostoma genus hatch page for information on habitat and life history.
These specimens are still alive, just very cold, so the colors are accurate. I put them in the freezer for a bit to settle them down and overdid it a little:)
The photo of the specimen cased is alive. The photo of the uncased larva is the same specimen taken after it was preserved in its case. Unfortunately, there was a lot of pigment transfer making the specimen look olivaceous. In life it was grayish white as shown in the first photo.
See 2 more specimens...
Caddisfly Species Lepidostoma pluviale
These are often called Little Brown Sedges.
This is the most important Western species of Lepidostoma, and it can be very important to fly anglers.