Salmonflies
Pteronarcys californica
The giant Salmonflies of the Western mountains are legendary for their proclivity to elicit consistent dry-fly action and ferocious strikes.
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Caddisfly Genus Neophylax (Autumn Mottled Sedges)
In his tables in Caddisflies, Gary LaFontaine ranks this as the fourth most important genus in the Pacific Northwest, where the main species are Neophylax rickeri and Neophylax splendens, but other species may be important across the country. Swisher and Richards in Selective Trout say that Neophylax fuscus is very important in the Midwest.
Where & when
Neophylax caddisflies emerge in concentrated numbers in the fall because they enter diapause during the summer, which synchronizes their emergence to within three weeks on a given stretch of stream.Egg-Laying behavior
The ovipositing behavior of this genus is not well-documented, but what is known varies by species.Specimens of the Caddisfly Genus Neophylax
1 Adult
This large caddisfly looks really neat close-up.
3 Larvae
I haven't really had time to ID this one; I'm just tentatively guessing based on the case that it's in Glossosomatidae.
The size of the head compared to the body in this larva is surprising, and I think this means it's a fairly early instar of something which is going to get a lot bigger, but I'm not sure.
2 Underwater Pictures of Neophylax Caddisflies:
A variety of cased caddisfly larvae, probably mostly Neophylax, have clustered along the backside of a rock in fast water. There seem to be some Helicopsychidae larvae clustered along the bottom, and a few other taxa are mixed in. It's interesting that several larvae have especially large stones placed over the front openings of their cases, perhaps to block the case off for pupation.
It does seem to be the wrong time of year for Neophylax to be pupating, but that was the ID given for one of these which I collected and photographed up close.
It does seem to be the wrong time of year for Neophylax to be pupating, but that was the ID given for one of these which I collected and photographed up close.
A wide variety of caddis larvae and other insects have clustered together on the backside of this rock in fast water.
In this picture: Caddisfly Genus Neophylax (Autumn Mottled Sedges).
Comment on Neophylax:
You can quickly and easily register to post comments.References
- LaFontaine, Gary. 1981. Caddisflies. The Lyons Press.
- Swisher, Doug and Carl Richards. 2000. Selective Trout. The Lyons Press.
Taxonomy
Kingdom
Animalia (Animals)
» Phylum
Arthropoda (Arthropods)
» Class
Insecta (Insects)
» Order
Trichoptera (Caddisflies)
» Family
Thremmatidae
» Genus Neophylax (Autumn Mottled Sedges)
| Species in Neophylax |
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Neophylax concinnusAutumn Mottled Sedge | 0 | 0 |
| Neophylax fuscusSmall Dot-Wing Sedge | 0 | 0 |
| Neophylax rickeriBrown Dot Sedge | 0 | 0 |
| Neophylax splendensAutumn Mottled Sedge | 0 | 0 |
21 species (Neophylax acutus, Neophylax aniqua, Neophylax atlanta, Neophylax auris, Neophylax ayanus, Neophylax consimilis, Neophylax delicatus, Neophylax etnieri, Neophylax mitchelli, Neophylax nacatus, Neophylax occidentis, Neophylax oligius, Neophylax ornatus, Neophylax ottawa, Neophylax securis, Neophylax sinuatus, Neophylax slossonae, Neophylax smithi, Neophylax stolus, Neophylax toshioi, and Neophylax wigginsi) aren't included.