Salmonflies
Pteronarcys californica
The giant Salmonflies of the Western mountains are legendary for their proclivity to elicit consistent dry-fly action and ferocious strikes.
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This one was surprisingly straightforward to identify. The lack of a sclerite at the base of the lateral hump narrows the field quite a bit, and the other options followed fairly obvious characteristics to Clostoeca, which only has one species, Clostoeca disjuncta.
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Ecdyonurus criddlei (Little Slate-Winged Dun) Mayfly Nymph Pictures
This is an interesting Heptageniid mayfly since in western Montana it is only found in cold lakes, especially those in Glacier National Park.
This mayfly was collected from Kintla Lake in Montana on July 31st, 2007 and added to Troutnut.com by Bnewell on June 26th, 2011.
Discussions of this Nymph
Ecdyonurus nymphs
Posted by Jmw975 on Dec 11, 2012
Last reply on Dec 11, 2012 by Jmw975
Hi all,
These specimens are in great shape!
the lower nymph in this photo is definitely not E. criddlei, but E. simplicoides. E. simplicioides has that distinctive color pattern with the pair of rectangular pale markings on tergum 4 and no median markings on the other terga.
The upper specimen is probably E. criddlei, but seems to have more extensive pale markings than specimens from further west.
cheers,
Jeff
These specimens are in great shape!
the lower nymph in this photo is definitely not E. criddlei, but E. simplicoides. E. simplicioides has that distinctive color pattern with the pair of rectangular pale markings on tergum 4 and no median markings on the other terga.
The upper specimen is probably E. criddlei, but seems to have more extensive pale markings than specimens from further west.
cheers,
Jeff