Updates from April 13, 2007

This is the first fully formed caddis pupa (technically, a pharate adult) that I've collected and photographed alive and healthy. I'll put a video of this specimen online soon, too.

The green blob contained in this case is a pupa in the early stages of transformation from larva to the final stage we generally picture and imitate. This specimen and several like it were fixed to a rock I picked up, and each one had the front of its case sealed off, protecting the helpless pupa from predation. It's neat to see the insect part-way through such a radical transformation. It was very hard to extract this thing from its case, so there's a bit of extra goo near the head from where I accidentally punctured it.

The striking coloration of this Ephemerella nymph earned it a turn under the camera lens. It has a different look than others I've collected, but I still might tentatively guess it belongs to the widely variable (and ironically named) invaria species.

See the forum comments for notes on the identification of this specimen.

This peculiar midge lived in a case tightly fixed to a rock, with several others of its kind. The case seems to be made of tiny grains of sand. I'm not sure what the function is for the little lines sticking out the front, because they aren't legs.