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.

Stream photos

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Pycnopsyche guttifera (Great Autumn Brown Sedge) Caddisfly Larva Pycnopsyche guttifera (Great Autumn Brown Sedge) Caddisfly Larva

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.

15 Recently Added Photos

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 Species Soliperla thyra (Roachflies)

Species Range

source

Physical description

Most physical descriptions on Troutnut are direct or slightly edited quotes from the original scientific sources describing or updating the species, although there may be errors in copying them to this website. Such descriptions aren't always definitive, because species often turn out to be more variable than the original describers observed. In some cases, only a single specimen was described! However, they are useful starting points.

Description from GBIFthe Global Biodiversity Information Facility

Source: California Soliperla Ricker, 1952 (Plecoptera: Peltoperlidae), Distribution And Taxonomic Characters

Male epiproct. Stark & Gustafson (2004) presented an image (Fig. 19 in Stark & Gustafson) of the epiproct from Glenn County specimens in which the epiproct stem gradually becomes wider near the apex and the lateral margins of the anterior face do not extend beyond those of the stem. In addition, the anterior face was 252 µm wide and heavily armed with a total of 37 marginal and submarginal teeth in 3 + rows. The specimen of Soliperla thyra in our study from Napa County (Figs. 6 - 7) has the anterior face distinctly wider than the stem (175 µm, but narrower than that of the Glenn County specimen) and has smaller and far fewer (21) teeth. Male aedeagus. Stark (1983) described and illustrated this distinctive structure from the holotype and from Napa County specimens. Herein, we provide additional images of the structure from a Humboldt County specimen. In all specimens examined by us, the ventral surface of the aedeagus bears a pair of prominent, curved spines that arise from sclerites (Fig. 12). Additional small setal spines occur along the anterolateral margins (Fig. 13). Larval abdominal pigment patterns. Stark (1983) described the larva of this species from Napa County specimens. In those specimens, terga 4 and 7 have small, circular, median pale spots and the median tergal spot on segment 5 is similar in shape to the lateral spots. In our study of Glenn County specimens the median spot on tergum 4 is absent and the median spots on terga 5 - 6 are similar in size and shape (Fig. 16).Source: California Soliperla Ricker, 1952 (Plecoptera: Peltoperlidae), Distribution And Taxonomic Characters

http: // lsid. speciesfile. org / urn: lsid: Plecoptera. speciesfile. org: TaxonName: 102 Figs. (6 - 7, 12 - 13, 16)

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