Header image
Enter a name
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 Sweltsa (Chloroperlidae) (Sallfly) Stonefly Nymph from the Yakima River in Washington
This species was fairly abundant in a February sample of the upper Yakima.
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.

Brachycentrus (Grannom) Caddisfly Pupa Pictures

The green blob contained in this case is a pupa in the early stages of transformation from larva to the final stage we generally picture and imitate. This specimen and several like it were fixed to a rock I picked up, and each one had the front of its case sealed off, protecting the helpless pupa from predation. It's neat to see the insect part-way through such a radical transformation.

It was very hard to extract this thing from its case, so there's a bit of extra goo near the head from where I accidentally punctured it.

The structure on the far right in this picture helped tightly attache the case to its rock.

Case view of a Brachycentrus (Brachycentridae) (Grannom) Caddisfly Pupa from Cayuta Creek in New York
This angle shows off the square cross-section of the case.  It has an incredibly tidy log cabin look to it.

Brachycentrus (Brachycentridae) (Grannom) Caddisfly Pupa from Cayuta Creek in New York
Here you can see the membrane the larva created to seal off its case for pupation.

Brachycentrus (Brachycentridae) (Grannom) Caddisfly Pupa from Cayuta Creek in New York
Ruler view of a Brachycentrus (Brachycentridae) (Grannom) Caddisfly Pupa from Cayuta Creek in New York The smallest ruler marks are 1 mm.
I wasn't so sure I would get this thing out of its case intact, so I took a picture during the extraction attempt.  I did end up knocking a few legs off in the process... oops.

Brachycentrus (Brachycentridae) (Grannom) Caddisfly Pupa from Cayuta Creek in New York
Ventral view of a Brachycentrus (Brachycentridae) (Grannom) Caddisfly Pupa from Cayuta Creek in New York
Dorsal view of a Brachycentrus (Brachycentridae) (Grannom) Caddisfly Pupa from Cayuta Creek in New York
Incredible hulk?

Brachycentrus (Brachycentridae) (Grannom) Caddisfly Pupa from Cayuta Creek in New York
Brachycentrus (Brachycentridae) (Grannom) Caddisfly Pupa from Cayuta Creek in New York
Brachycentrus (Brachycentridae) (Grannom) Caddisfly Pupa from Cayuta Creek in New York

This caddisfly was collected from Cayuta Creek in New York on April 14th, 2007 and added to Troutnut.com by Troutnut on April 22nd, 2007.

Discussions of this Pupa

granom emerger and dry patterns for LJ
5 replies
Posted by Powderfinge on Jan 8, 2017
Last reply on Jan 10, 2017 by Martinlf
what pattern/colors do u find effective? thanks
Easier way to get them out of their cases
2 replies
Posted by Dgracia on Jan 14, 2009
Last reply on Feb 15, 2013 by Troutnut
Hi Jason,
[br][br]
One of the things I've done forever is carry at least a couple of fairly large (3"-4") darning needles in my vest. You can conveniently carry them inside one of your foam fly boxes or poked into a foam fly patch. Besides making a good fid (tool for opening knots) it also persuades caddis to come out of their cases generally in one piece. If you have the larva in your hand and he hasn't sealed the opening for pupation, you can just insert the blunt end of the needle (the part with the eye in it) in through the back of the case and slowly push. Pretty quickly, he will start coming out the front of the case and you can persuade him to come out entirely without much problem.
[br][br]
You can extract intact examples of the larva or pupa pretty easily with this method. With a pupating caddis, you do need to cut off the sealed opening so the caddis can get out. You have to be pretty careful though, because it's easy to cut off his head if you aren't.
[br][br]
Of course, you won't get those great photos of half-cut open cases, but you don't have to worry about breaking off legs either. I started carrying those needles with me when I was teaching so I could undo "wind knots" more easily, but they are great at persuading caddis to leave their case.
[br][br]
Dan
Grannoms
7 replies
Posted by Martinlf on Apr 26, 2009
Last reply on Jan 8, 2013 by Martinlf
One of our brethren recently noted some olive caddis hatching during a dark Grannom emergence on a central PA stream. Pondering this, and not knowing much about caddis, I began to wonder if the olive bodied bugs might be Grannoms as well, either in a different color phase, or one gender, such as females with egg masses coloring the abdomen some. Am I too far off?
Grannom Photos
14 replies
Posted by Martinlf on Apr 23, 2007
Last reply on Mar 21, 2010 by Martinlf
Jason, great photos. This is what I expect a Grannom and its case to look like. It's clear to me that the bugs I mention in my previous post aren't Grannoms. Their cases aren't nearly so neat, as David notes Grannoms should be, and they aren't shaped at all like the cases you posted above. I think Roger is on to something with his photos, and Quill Gordon has given some likely suspects for PA.
caddis larva beh;a;vior question (really!)
10 replies
Posted by CaseyP on Dec 18, 2009
Last reply on Dec 20, 2009 by LittleJ
tying for the grannom hatch on the Little Juniata. have a couple of standards, but just can't resist fiddling a bit:

do the grannom larvae in their cases hold onto the rocks with little sticky filaments which might be duplicated with a few fibers of CDC, or do they hold on with their legs sticking out which can be duplicated with hackle, or do they not hold on at all?

Start a Discussion of Pupa

Brachycentrus (Grannom) Caddisfly Pupa Pictures

Collection details
Location: Cayuta Creek, New York
Date: April 14th, 2007
Added to site: April 22nd, 2007
Author: Troutnut
Troutnut.com is copyright © 2004-2024 (email Jason). privacy policy