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.

Lone tree on a rock in the middle of Big Lake. Fittingly, Big Lake is the largest of several short wide spots in the upper Brule River.

From the Bois Brule River in Wisconsin

Stream photos

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Epeorus albertae (Pink Lady) Mayfly Nymph Epeorus albertae (Pink Lady) Mayfly Nymph

Dorsal view of a Epeorus albertae (Heptageniidae) (Pink Lady) Mayfly Nymph from the East Fork Issaquah Creek in Washington

This specimen keys to the Epeorus albertae group of species. Of the five species in that group, the two known in Washington state are Epeorus albertae and Epeorus dulciana. Of the two, albertae has been collected in vastly more locations in Washington than dulciana, suggesting it is far more common. On that basis alone I'm tentatively putting this nymph in albertae, with the large caveat that there's no real information to rule out dulciana.

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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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Holocentropus Caddisfly Larva Pictures

This one seems to tentatively key to Holocentropus, although I can't make out the anal spines in Couplet 7 of the Key to Genera of Polycentropodidae Larvae nor the dark bands in Couplet 4 of the Key to Genera of Polycentropodidae Larvae, making me wonder if I went wrong somewhere in keying it out. I don't see where that could have happened, though. It might also be that it's a very immature larva and doesn't possess all the identifying characteristics in the key yet. If Holocentropus is correct, then Holocentropus flavus and Holocentropus interruptus are the two likely possibilities based on range, but I was not able to find a description of their larvae.

Dorsal view of a Holocentropus (Polycentropodidae) Caddisfly Larva from the Yakima River in Washington

Holocentropus (Polycentropodidae) Caddisfly Larva from the Yakima River in Washington

Ruler view of a Holocentropus (Polycentropodidae) Caddisfly Larva from the Yakima River in Washington The smallest ruler marks are 1 mm.

This caddisfly was collected from the Yakima River in Washington on February 18th, 2023 and added to Troutnut.com by Troutnut on February 21st, 2023.

Discussions of this Larva

Holocentropus ID Discussion

Posted by Fishohio614 on Jun 11, 2023

Last reply on Jun 11, 2023 by Fishohio614

At first glance Rhyacophilidae is what jumps to my mind. Admittedly, I have limited experience with this family. From the Holocentropus I’ve keyed out, the anal spines are fairly small. If you have a compound scope you may have better luck trying to wet mount a claw and view it under higher magnification. Not being able to see the dark bands couplet 4 refers to makes me think you may be in the wrong family. I recall that character usually being present in smaller larva, although I could be misremembering.

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