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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.

Dorsal view of a Limnephilidae (Giant Sedges) Caddisfly Larva from the Yakima River in Washington
This specimen resembled several others of around the same size and perhaps the same species, which were pretty common in my February sample from the upper Yakima. Unfortunately, I misplaced the specimen before I could get it under a microscope for a definitive ID.
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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Cheumatopsyche (Little Sister Sedge) Caddisfly Pupa Pictures

I photographed this one recently dead. It's hard to keep caddis pupae alive for very long in a collection container.

This caddisfly was collected from the Namekagon River in Wisconsin on May 18th, 2004 and added to Troutnut.com by Troutnut on January 25th, 2006.

Discussions of this Pupa

Can you provide a size for this specimen?
5 replies
Posted by GONZO on Nov 8, 2006
Last reply on Jul 24, 2008 by GONZO
Jason-

I hate to ask you to dig through your specimen vials, but I'm curious to know if you can give a size reference for this one. I've stared at it many times. My first impression was Brachycentrus, but that impression was based entirely on color and markings. I haven't been able to find any definitive keys to verify this id (though I may be missing something).

May 18 does seem a little on the late side for most of the common Eastern/Midwestern Brachycentrus spp. But, we do have a peak emergence of a Micrasema sp. around that time on the Brodheads. This is the reason I was wondering about the size. I also wanted to call attention to this specimen in the hope that Litobrancha, Taxon, or someone else might be able to end my puzzlement.

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Cheumatopsyche (Little Sister Sedge) Caddisfly Pupa Pictures

Collection details
Location: Namekagon River, Wisconsin
Date: May 18th, 2004
Added to site: January 25th, 2006
Author: Troutnut
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