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.

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.

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.

Male Attenella attenuata (Small Eastern Blue-Winged Olive) Mayfly Dun Pictures

This specimen came from the same hatch as a female.

Lateral view of a Male Attenella attenuata (Ephemerellidae) (Blue-Winged Olive) Mayfly Dun from the Namekagon River in Wisconsin

Dorsal view of a Male Attenella attenuata (Ephemerellidae) (Blue-Winged Olive) Mayfly Dun from the Namekagon River in Wisconsin

Ventral view of a Male Attenella attenuata (Ephemerellidae) (Blue-Winged Olive) Mayfly Dun from the Namekagon River in Wisconsin

This mayfly was collected from the Namekagon River in Wisconsin on June 8th, 2005 and added to Troutnut.com by Troutnut on May 26th, 2006.

Discussions of this Dun

BWO

Posted by Oldredbarn on Jun 8, 2010

Last reply on Jun 8, 2010 by Oldredbarn

This third picture from the underside I find interesting. On my last trip to Au Sable in MI in late May 2010 I stopped to sit on some instream structure and was floored by the number of nymphs crawling around on my wading boots. There is always something there but this particular time the activity was heavy.

One of the nymphs stuck out from the others and had this same greenish color as this dun. All the others seemed very dark, the typical browns to black.

I was in fairly fast water that was hip deep in spots and maybe deeper towards the middle of the stream...Anyway it caught my eye and I should of hung on to it or took a photo.

It was very warm up there for that time in May...

One of the nights a friend and I were trying to figure out what was going on. I stepped out in to the bubble stream with a small siene and again was floored about the number of bugs being caught in it. I think it may have been one of those "benthic drift" situations we have all read about...There was everything in large numbers but very small stuff and for the most part mangled up...Or so it seemed...

These may have been smallish spinners, but no feeding fish interested...It was frustrating to say the least...I was showing primo water to someone who had never been there before...I was trying to show it off and the fish were snubbing their noses at us...I guess they weren't even doing that really...They were probably stuffing themselves underwater on all the activity...

Just obsevations here.

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