Hex Mayflies
Hexagenia limbata
The famous nocturnal Hex hatch of the Midwest (and a few other lucky locations) stirs to the surface mythically large brown trout that only touch streamers for the rest of the year.
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This is a striking caddis larva with an interesting color pattern on the head. Here are some characteristics I was able to see under the microscope, but could not easily expose for a picture:
- The prosternal horn is present.
- The mandible is clearly toothed, not formed into a uniform scraper blade.
- The seems to be only 2 major setae on the ventral edge of the hind femur.
- Chloride epithelia seem to be absent from the dorsal side of any abdominal segments.
Based on these characteristics and the ones more easily visible from the pictures, this seems to be Grammotaulius. The key's description of the case is spot-on: "Case cylindrical, made of longitudinally arranged sedge or similar leaves," as is the description of the markings on the head, "Dorsum of head light brownish yellow with numerous discrete, small, dark spots." The spot pattern on the head is a very good match to figure 19.312 of Merritt R.W., Cummins, K.W., and Berg, M.B. (2019). The species ID is based on Grammotaulius betteni being the only species of this genus known in Washington state.
- The prosternal horn is present.
- The mandible is clearly toothed, not formed into a uniform scraper blade.
- The seems to be only 2 major setae on the ventral edge of the hind femur.
- Chloride epithelia seem to be absent from the dorsal side of any abdominal segments.
Based on these characteristics and the ones more easily visible from the pictures, this seems to be Grammotaulius. The key's description of the case is spot-on: "Case cylindrical, made of longitudinally arranged sedge or similar leaves," as is the description of the markings on the head, "Dorsum of head light brownish yellow with numerous discrete, small, dark spots." The spot pattern on the head is a very good match to figure 19.312 of Merritt R.W., Cummins, K.W., and Berg, M.B. (2019). The species ID is based on Grammotaulius betteni being the only species of this genus known in Washington state.
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Taxon's blog & contributions
Taxon's blog & contributions
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About Taxon (Roger Rohrbeck): My interest in identification of aquatic insects developed as a natural byproduct of transitioning from other methods of fishing to fly fishing during my early 40�s. However, it was not until my retirement, which followed a 35-year career in information technology, that I was afforded the opportunity to fully pursue study of aquatic entomology and taxonomy.
Within several years following retirement, I had accumulated an enormity of texts and notes on aquatic entomology and taxonomy. And, it was becoming readily apparent that some manner of organizing and accessing that information was sorely needed, as accurate memory of minutia was definitely not my strong suit.
My initial approach was to organize all the information in an Access database, but it didn�t take long to realize that this approach (alone) would not allow sharing the information with other flyfishers. So, I developed a website, which was initially just many entomology-related pages on the website of the flyfishing club to which I belonged. However, as my ever-increasing need for storage began to cause a problem, I took the big plunge, and got my own domain name and hosting provider. To date my website has received in excess of (300,000) separate visits, from (125) countries, representing all (6) inhabited continents.
Within several years following retirement, I had accumulated an enormity of texts and notes on aquatic entomology and taxonomy. And, it was becoming readily apparent that some manner of organizing and accessing that information was sorely needed, as accurate memory of minutia was definitely not my strong suit.
My initial approach was to organize all the information in an Access database, but it didn�t take long to realize that this approach (alone) would not allow sharing the information with other flyfishers. So, I developed a website, which was initially just many entomology-related pages on the website of the flyfishing club to which I belonged. However, as my ever-increasing need for storage began to cause a problem, I took the big plunge, and got my own domain name and hosting provider. To date my website has received in excess of (300,000) separate visits, from (125) countries, representing all (6) inhabited continents.
References
- Merritt R.W., Cummins, K.W., and Berg, M.B. 2019. An Introduction to the Aquatic Insects of North America (Fifth Edition). Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company.