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Lateral view of a Male Baetis (Baetidae) (Blue-Winged Olive) Mayfly Dun from Mystery Creek #43 in New York
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.

Case view of a Pycnopsyche guttifera (Limnephilidae) (Great Autumn Brown Sedge) Caddisfly Larva from the Yakima River in Washington
It's only barely visible in one of my pictures, but I confirmed under the microscope that this one has a prosternal horn and the antennae are mid-way between the eyes and front of the head capsule.

I'm calling this one Pycnopsyche, but it's a bit perplexing. It seems to key definitively to at least Couplet 8 of the Key to Genera of Limnephilidae Larvae. That narrows it down to three genera, and the case seems wrong for the other two. The case looks right for Pycnopsyche, and it fits one of the key characteristics: "Abdominal sternum II without chloride epithelium and abdominal segment IX with only single seta on each side of dorsal sclerite." However, the characteristic "metanotal sa1 sclerites not fused, although often contiguous" does not seem to fit well. Those sclerites sure look fused to me, although I can make out a thin groove in the touching halves in the anterior half under the microscope. Perhaps this is a regional variation.

The only species of Pycnopsyche documented in Washington state is Pycnopsyche guttifera, and the colors and markings around the head of this specimen seem to match very well a specimen of that species from Massachusetts on Bugguide. So I am placing it in that species for now.

Whatever species this is, I photographed another specimen of seemingly the same species from the same spot a couple months later.
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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Caddisfly Family Polycentropodidae

These small caddisflies are of occasional importance, but the family doesn't include any major superhatches.

Where & when

In 1533 records from GBIF, adults of this family have mostly been collected during June (31%), July (27%), August (15%), May (15%), and September (6%).

In 509 records from GBIF, this family has been collected at elevations ranging from 3 to 10663 ft, with an average (median) of 1299 ft.

Family Range

Hatching behavior

The pupae emerge on the surface.

Egg-Laying behavior

Females of this family lay their eggs on the bottom, either by diving down or crawling down objects.

Larva & pupa biology

Diet: Smaller aquatic insects

Current speed: Slow or still

Shelter type: Wide variety of nets and net-like structures

Specimens of the Caddisfly Family Polycentropodidae

1 Adult
2 Larvae

Discussions of Polycentropodidae

Polycentropodidae or?
14 replies
Posted by LowBudget on Oct 1, 2013
Last reply on Jul 24, 2014 by Crepuscular
The first image is of a live caddis. It was collected from Trout Creek which is in the Delaware River watershed in upstate NY. The background is 1/4 inch ruled graph paper which is under the Petrie dish holding the caddis with water.


The second shows small silk nets found on rocks in the same stream during the same sampling.




I've been working all of my ID books including "Freshwater Macroinvertebrates of Northeastern North America" by Peckarsky.

The upper lip does not seem to have the T shape of a Fingernet caddis. It does have the heavy mandible with a brush of Polycentropodidae.

But, I'm not completely satisfied.

Anyone have thoughts on this?

Ed

Start a Discussion of Polycentropodidae

References

  • LaFontaine, Gary. 1981. Caddisflies. The Lyons Press.
  • Morse, JC. 1972. The genus Nyctiophylax in North America. Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 42(2): 172-181.
  • Swisher, Doug and Carl Richards. 2000. Selective Trout. The Lyons Press.

Caddisfly Family Polycentropodidae

Taxonomy
Genus in Polycentropodidae: Holocentropus, Neureclipsis, Nyctiophylax, Polycentropus
4 genera (Cernotina, Cyrnellus, Plectrocnemia, and Polyplectropus) aren't included.
Family Range
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