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Lateral view of a Male Baetis (Baetidae) (Blue-Winged Olive) Mayfly Dun from Mystery Creek #43 in New York
Blue-winged Olives
Baetis

Tiny Baetis mayflies are perhaps the most commonly encountered and imitated by anglers on all American trout streams due to their great abundance, widespread distribution, and trout-friendly emergence habits.

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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Male Ephemerella subvaria (Hendrickson) Mayfly Spinner Pictures

I collected this beautiful male Hendrickson specimen as a dun, along with a female Hendrickson from the same hatch. Both molted into spinners in my house within a couple of days.

An Ephemerella mayfly. This mayfly is an adult mayfly of the imago or "spinner" stage

Lateral view of a Male Ephemerella subvaria (Ephemerellidae) (Hendrickson) Mayfly Spinner from Fall Creek in New York
Male Ephemerella subvaria (Ephemerellidae) (Hendrickson) Mayfly Spinner from Fall Creek in New York
Ventral view of a Male Ephemerella subvaria (Ephemerellidae) (Hendrickson) Mayfly Spinner from Fall Creek in New York
Male Ephemerella subvaria (Ephemerellidae) (Hendrickson) Mayfly Spinner from Fall Creek in New York
This Hendrickson is just begging to catch a trout, isn't he?  Look at the effort he's putting into shaping his body like a hook.

Male Ephemerella subvaria (Ephemerellidae) (Hendrickson) Mayfly Spinner from Fall Creek in New York
Dorsal view of a Male Ephemerella subvaria (Ephemerellidae) (Hendrickson) Mayfly Spinner from Fall Creek in New York
Male Ephemerella subvaria (Ephemerellidae) (Hendrickson) Mayfly Spinner from Fall Creek in New York
This picture kind of leaves me with the impression that I should break out the weird size 13 hooks I have stashed away somewhere.

Ruler view of a Male Ephemerella subvaria (Ephemerellidae) (Hendrickson) Mayfly Spinner from Fall Creek in New York The smallest ruler marks are 1 mm.
Male Ephemerella subvaria (Ephemerellidae) (Hendrickson) Mayfly Spinner from Fall Creek in New York
Male Ephemerella subvaria (Ephemerellidae) (Hendrickson) Mayfly Spinner from Fall Creek in New York
Artistic view of a Male Ephemerella subvaria (Ephemerellidae) (Hendrickson) Mayfly Spinner from Fall Creek in New York

This mayfly was collected from Fall Creek in New York on April 23rd, 2007 and added to Troutnut.com by Troutnut on April 25th, 2007.


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Male Ephemerella subvaria (Hendrickson) Mayfly Spinner Pictures

Collection details
Location: Fall Creek, New York
Date: April 23rd, 2007
Added to site: April 25th, 2007
Author: Troutnut
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