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Artistic view of a Male Pteronarcys californica (Pteronarcyidae) (Giant Salmonfly) Stonefly Adult from the Gallatin River in Montana
Salmonflies
Pteronarcys californica

The giant Salmonflies of the Western mountains are legendary for their proclivity to elicit consistent dry-fly action and ferocious strikes.

Lateral view of a Onocosmoecus (Limnephilidae) (Great Late-Summer Sedge) Caddisfly Larva from the Yakima River in Washington
This specimen keys pretty easily to Onocosmoecus, and it closely resembles a specimen from Alaska which caddis expert Dave Ruiter recognized as this genus. As with that specimen, the only species in the genus documented in this area is Onocosmoecus unicolor, but Dave suggested for that specimen that there might be multiple not-yet-distinguished species under the unicolor umbrella and it would be best to stick with the genus-level ID. I'm doing the same for this one.
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.
Troutnut is a project started in 2003 by salmonid ecologist Jason "Troutnut" Neuswanger to help anglers and fly tyers unabashedly embrace the entomological side of the sport. Learn more about Troutnut or support the project for an enhanced experience here.

Neoleptophlebia Mayfly Nymph Pictures

This nymph keys pretty well to Neoleptophlebia. Under the microscope, the fork on the first gill is more symmetrical than it looks in the picture here. Following the species key in Jacobus et al. (2014), the lack of tusks on the head or postero-lateral spines on segment 8 leads to adoptiva or heteronea, but both refer to a 3-segmented labial palp as a key characteristic, and this one only seems to have two segments, just like another, different-looking specimen from the same sample. So I'm stuck.

I thought the end of the abdomen of this one was damaged during capture and transport, but I photographed it anyway because it looked different from the others. However, it became clear under the microscope that it was actually just mid-way through molting and the abdomen was intact underneath. I got a couple nice microscope photos showing that. The pattern of markings on the abdomen is still distinctive compared to the other specimen, which was more representative of a common nymph in my sample. This one was unique.

Dorsal view of a Neoleptophlebia (Leptophlebiidae) Mayfly Nymph from the Yakima River in Washington
Ventral view of a Neoleptophlebia (Leptophlebiidae) Mayfly Nymph from the Yakima River in Washington
Ruler view of a Neoleptophlebia (Leptophlebiidae) Mayfly Nymph from the Yakima River in Washington The smallest ruler marks are 1 mm.
Neoleptophlebia (Leptophlebiidae) Mayfly Nymph from the Yakima River in Washington
Neoleptophlebia (Leptophlebiidae) Mayfly Nymph from the Yakima River in Washington
Neoleptophlebia (Leptophlebiidae) Mayfly Nymph from the Yakima River in Washington
Neoleptophlebia (Leptophlebiidae) Mayfly Nymph from the Yakima River in Washington
Pieces of the half-shed exoskeleton falling apart in the preserved specimen, which was molting when I captured it.

Neoleptophlebia (Leptophlebiidae) Mayfly Nymph from the Yakima River in Washington
I pulled away most of the old exoskeleton to reveal the new one it was about to molt into underneath.

Neoleptophlebia (Leptophlebiidae) Mayfly Nymph from the Yakima River in Washington
Neoleptophlebia (Leptophlebiidae) Mayfly Nymph from the Yakima River in Washington

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


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Neoleptophlebia Mayfly Nymph Pictures

Collection details
Location: Yakima River, Washington
Date: February 18th, 2023
Added to site: February 21st, 2023
Author: Troutnut
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