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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.

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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Sweltsa onkos (Sallfly) Stonefly Adult Pictures

Ruler view of a Sweltsa onkos (Chloroperlidae) (Sallfly) Stonefly Adult from Mystery Creek #62 in New York The smallest ruler marks are 1 mm.
Lateral view of a Sweltsa onkos (Chloroperlidae) (Sallfly) Stonefly Adult from Mystery Creek #62 in New York
Sweltsa onkos (Chloroperlidae) (Sallfly) Stonefly Adult from Mystery Creek #62 in New York
Sweltsa onkos (Chloroperlidae) (Sallfly) Stonefly Adult from Mystery Creek #62 in New York
Sweltsa onkos (Chloroperlidae) (Sallfly) Stonefly Adult from Mystery Creek #62 in New York
Sweltsa onkos (Chloroperlidae) (Sallfly) Stonefly Adult from Mystery Creek #62 in New York
Dorsal view of a Sweltsa onkos (Chloroperlidae) (Sallfly) Stonefly Adult from Mystery Creek #62 in New York
Ventral view of a Sweltsa onkos (Chloroperlidae) (Sallfly) Stonefly Adult from Mystery Creek #62 in New York

This stonefly was collected from Mystery Creek #62 in New York on May 15th, 2007 and added to Troutnut.com by Troutnut on May 18th, 2007.

Discussions of this Adult

Ontario Sallfly
Posted by GONZO on Sep 9, 2008
Last reply on Sep 9, 2008 by GONZO
I believe this is probably Sweltsa onkos. There are three Sweltsa species commonly listed for most of the Northeast (onkos, naica, and lateralis), and their individual pronotum/head markings seem rather distinctive.

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Sweltsa onkos (Sallfly) Stonefly Adult Pictures

Collection details
Location: Mystery Creek #62, New York
Date: May 15th, 2007
Added to site: May 18th, 2007
Author: Troutnut
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