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Lateral view of a Female Hexagenia limbata (Ephemeridae) (Hex) Mayfly Dun from the Namekagon River in Wisconsin
Hex Mayflies
Hexagenia limbata

The famous nocturnal Hex hatch of the Midwest (and a few other lucky locations) stirs to the surface mythically large brown trout that only touch streamers for the rest of the year.

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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True Bug Family Corixidae (Water Boatmen)

Dorsal view of a Corixidae (Water Boatman) True Bug Adult from unknown in Wisconsin
Water boatmen are very common in trout streams, but they aren't an important prey for most trout most of the time. Occasionally they are the important prey and trout feed on them selectively. This is especially likely in weedy mountain lakes and spring ponds.

Where & when

Time of year : Mating in early spring

Preferred waters: Most abundant in slow or still weedy waters

Boatmen are available year-round, but they have mating flights in the spring.

Egg-Laying behavior

Time of day: Afternoon

I had never read of this behavior before I saw it for myself. Boatmen climb out of the water in early spring (April where I watched them in northern Wisconsin) and are easily spotted on the remaining snow banks next to the river. The adults fly around over the river, sometimes quite high, and eventually splash down onto the surface, where they make a few kicks to break the film and then disappear. I presume this was their egg-laying behavior, and they did it in such numbers that trout probably fed well on them.

This is based on my one encounter, so there may be more variation in their behavior and I may have misread something.

Specimens of Water Boatmen:

3 Adults

7 Underwater Pictures of Water Boatmen:

1 Video of Water Boatmen:

Water Boatman Rowing

Water boatmen are excellent swimmers, and you can see here how they use their oars to push themselves through the water, a motion easily imitated by the fly fisher.


Start a Discussion of Corixidae

True Bug Family Corixidae (Water Boatmen)

Taxonomy
Genus in Corixidae
Sigara
1
3
Genus in Corixidae: Sigara
16 genera (Arctocorisa, Callicorixa, Cenocorixa, Centrocorisa, Corisella, Cymatia, Dasycorixa, Glaenocorisa, Graptocorixa, Hesperocorixa, Morphocorixa, Neocorixa, Palmacorixa, Pseudocorixa, Ramphocorixa, and Trichocorixa) aren't included.
Common Name
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