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Artistic view of a Male Pteronarcys californica (Pteronarcyidae) (Giant Salmonfly) Stonefly Adult from the Gallatin River in Montana
Salmonflies
Pteronarcys californica

The giant Salmonflies of the Western mountains are legendary for their proclivity to elicit consistent dry-fly action and ferocious strikes.

Lateral view of a Female Sweltsa borealis (Chloroperlidae) (Boreal Sallfly) Stonefly Adult from Harris Creek in Washington
I was not fishing, but happened to be at an unrelated social event on a hill above this tiny creek (which I never even saw) when this stonefly flew by me. I assume it came from there. Some key characteristics are tricky to follow, but process of elimination ultimately led me to Sweltsa borealis. It is reassuringly similar to this specimen posted by Bob Newell years ago. It is also so strikingly similar to this nymph from the same river system that I'm comfortable identifying that nymph from this adult. I was especially pleased with the closeup photo of four mites parasitizing this one.
27" brown trout, my largest ever. It was the sub-dominant fish in its pool. After this, I hooked the bigger one, but I couldn't land it.
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Stonefly Genus Allocapnia (Little Snowflies)

Allocapnia granulata is the most abundant Capniidae species in the East.

Where & when

In 615 records from GBIF, adults of this genus have mostly been collected during March (29%), February (26%), January (20%), December (11%), and April (10%).

In 82 records from GBIF, this genus has been collected at elevations ranging from 125 to 4856 ft, with an average (median) of 3182 ft.

Genus Range

Discussions of Allocapnia

Little Black Stonefly pics
12 replies
Posted by Adirman on Apr 14, 2018 in the species Allocapnia granulata
Last reply on Apr 21, 2018 by Martinlf
Hey guys, went out on the Neversink for awhile today and had a look around, saw a lot of little dark flies, may be the little black stone fly? Hard to tell cuz looked like Caddis too. Looks like about a size 16? Any pics of available of this species would be great.


Thanks

Start a Discussion of Allocapnia

Stonefly Genus Allocapnia (Little Snowflies)

Taxonomy
16 species (Allocapnia brooksi, Allocapnia frisoni, Allocapnia fumosa, Allocapnia illinoensis, Allocapnia jeanae, Allocapnia loshada, Allocapnia malverna, Allocapnia mohri, Allocapnia oribata, Allocapnia peltoides, Allocapnia recta, Allocapnia simmonsi, Allocapnia tennessa, Allocapnia vivipara, Allocapnia warreni, and Allocapnia wrayi) aren't included.
Genus Range
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