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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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Ranatra Water Scorpion Adult Pictures

Here's a big water scorpion (no relation to actual scorpions). These guys are just about the most sinister-looking creatures you could find, and what's especially creepy is that they can come up out of the water and fly around, as I learned when one left my aquarium and buzzed my head while I was peeking into the microscope at a mayfly nymph.

This water scorpion was collected from unknown in Wisconsin on March 10th, 2004 and added to Troutnut.com by Troutnut on January 25th, 2006.

Discussions of this Adult

Genus ID
1 replies
Posted by DMM on Jan 18, 2007
Last reply on Jan 18, 2007 by DMM
Ranatra

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Ranatra Water Scorpion Adult Pictures

Collection details
Location: unknown, Wisconsin
Date: March 10th, 2004
Added to site: January 25th, 2006
Author: Troutnut
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