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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 Genus Hydropsyche (Spotted Sedges)

The most important genus in the most important family of caddis.

More to come - Page in edit mode.

Where & when

In 1874 records from GBIF, adults of this genus have mostly been collected during June (26%), July (22%), May (17%), August (17%), September (7%), and April (6%).

In 802 records from GBIF, this genus has been collected at elevations ranging from 3 to 13671 ft, with an average (median) of 2723 ft.

Genus Range

Specimens of the Caddisfly Genus Hydropsyche

4 Adults
3 Male Adults
2 Female Adults
1 Pupa
3 Larvae

Start a Discussion of Hydropsyche

References

Caddisfly Genus Hydropsyche (Spotted Sedges)

Taxonomy
47 species (Hydropsyche aenigma, Hydropsyche aerata, Hydropsyche alabama, Hydropsyche alternans, Hydropsyche alvata, Hydropsyche arinale, Hydropsyche auricolor, Hydropsyche bassi, Hydropsyche bidentata, Hydropsyche bronta, Hydropsyche brunneipennis, Hydropsyche carolina, Hydropsyche catawba, Hydropsyche cockerelli, Hydropsyche confusus, Hydropsyche cuanis, Hydropsyche decalda, Hydropsyche delrio, Hydropsyche demora, Hydropsyche depravata, Hydropsyche dicantha, Hydropsyche elissoma, Hydropsyche fattigi, Hydropsyche franclemonti, Hydropsyche frisoni, Hydropsyche hageni, Hydropsyche hoffmani, Hydropsyche impula, Hydropsyche incommoda, Hydropsyche leonardi, Hydropsyche marqueti, Hydropsyche mississippiensis, Hydropsyche opthalmica, Hydropsyche orris, Hydropsyche patera, Hydropsyche phalerata, Hydropsyche philo, Hydropsyche placoda, Hydropsyche potomacensis, Hydropsyche reciprocus, Hydropsyche reiseni, Hydropsyche rossi, Hydropsyche rotosa, Hydropsyche scalaris, Hydropsyche valanis, Hydropsyche venularis, and Hydropsyche winema) aren't included.
Genus Range
Common Name
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