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 wild-looking little thing completely puzzled me. At first I was thinking beetle or month larva, until I got a look at the pictures on the computer screen. I made a couple of incorrect guesses before entomologist Greg Courtney pointed me in the right direction with Psychodidae. He suggested a possible genus of Thornburghiella, but could not rule out some other members of the tribe Pericomini.
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Identification: Key to Orders of Aquatic Insect Larvae and Wingless Adults, Couplet 9
Identification: Key to Orders of Aquatic Insect Larvae and Wingless Adults, Couplet 9
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Adapted from Merritt R.W., Cummins, K.W., and Berg, M.B. (2019)
| Option 1 | Option 2 |
|---|---|
| Posterior end of body with at least one or a combination of gills, hair brushes, a sucker, or breathing tube | Posterior end of body simple or with small processes or isolated hairs, but without gills, brushes, suckers, or breathing tubes |
5 Example Specimens
I don't see a lot of green Chironomidae larvae in my samples, so I photographed this one.
| 5 Example Specimens
Every picture of this Psephenidae larva was taken with my old C740UZ through a microscope.
|
| Diptera | Coleoptera |
Adapted from Merritt R.W., Cummins, K.W., and Berg, M.B. (2019)
The current couplet is highlighted with darker colors and a icon, and couplets leading to this point have a icon.
Leads to Collembola:
- Abdomen with 6 or fewer segments and a ventral tube
- Body tiny, 5 mm or less
- Most with a forked structure (furcula) at tip of abdomen
Leads to Couplet 2:
- Abdomen with more than 6 segments and without a ventral tube
- Body size variable, often > 5 mm
Couplet 2
Leads to Couplet 3:
- Three pairs of jointed legs on thorax
Couplet 3
Leads to Couplet 8:
- True legs absent; fleshy, leg-like protuberances or prolegs may be present on thorax, but fewer than three pairs and not jointed
Couplet 8
Leads to Lepidoptera:
- Abdomen with at least 2 pairs (usually 5 pairs) of ventral, fleshy, leg-like protuberances tipped with tiny hooks (prolegs with crochets)
Leads to Couplet 5:
- Abdomen without paired, ventral, leg-like protuberances, or, if present, not tipped with tiny hooks
Couplet 5
Leads to Trichoptera:
- Last abdominal segment with lateral appendages bearing sclerotized, hook-like anal claws
- Antennae 1-segmented, inconspicuous
- Gills, if present, seldom confined to lateral margins of body
- Larvae frequently live in cases made of sand grains or bits of plant matter, but some are free-living
Leads to Couplet 6:
- Last abdominal segment without anal claws
- If anal claws present, antennae have more than 1 segment
- Gills inserted laterally
Couplet 6
Leads to Neuroptera:
- Mandibles and maxillae united at each side to form long, straight or slightly recurved, thread-like suctorial tubes
- Laterally inserted, segmented gills folded beneath abdomen
- Small, 10 mm or less Found in or on freshwater sponges
Neuroptera
Leads to Couplet 7:
- Mandibles not united with maxillae into long tubes; if mandibles suctorial, then strongly curved, sickle-shaped
- Gills seldom segmented and not folded beneath abdomen
Couplet 7
Leads to Megaloptera:
- Abdomen with 7-8 pairs of lateral filaments or gills, arranged 1 pair on each segment
- Paired terminal anal prolegs each with 2 claws or a single, medial, caudal filament
Leads to Coleoptera:
- Abdomen usually without lateral gills; if segmental gills present, then (a) only a single terminal anal proleg with 4 claws, otherwise anal hooks absent, or (b) segment 10 with 4 gills, or (c) caudal appendages paired or absent but never single
Leads to Couplet 9:
- Head capsule distinct, partly or entirely hardened, and usually pigmented, but may be deeply withdrawn in prothorax
Couplet 9
Leads to Couplet 10:
- Head capsule absent, not distinct, hardened, or pigmented, often consisting of a few pale rods
Couplet 10
Couplet 9 (You are here)
Leads to Diptera:
- Posterior end of body with at least one or a combination of gills, hair brushes, a sucker, or breathing tube
Leads to Coleoptera:
- Posterior end of body simple or with small processes or isolated hairs, but without gills, brushes, suckers, or breathing tubes
Leads to Diptera:
- Body often 5 mm or larger, elongate, somewhat cylindrical, spindle-shaped or maggot-like
- Mouthparts may be reduced to a pair of retractile mouth hooks that move vertically
Leads to Hymenoptera:
- Body usually 5 mm or less
- Mouthparts may be reduced to a pair of opposable, acute mandibles that move horizontally
- Parasitoids on or inside insect hosts
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References
- Merritt R.W., Cummins, K.W., and Berg, M.B. 2019. An Introduction to the Aquatic Insects of North America (Fifth Edition). Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company.
Orders excluded
These orders of Insecta are not included in this key: Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Odonata-Anisoptera, Odonata-Zygoptera, Orthoptera, Psocodea