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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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Martinlf
Martinlf's profile picture
Moderator
Palmyra PA

Posts: 3047
Martinlf on Nov 26, 2020November 26th, 2020, 5:05 am EST
Hi Troutnuts, wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving. I'm thankful for the recent news that the Pebble Creek Mine has been shut down by the Army Corps of Engineers, that a vaccine is on the way so I should be good to fly to Montana this summer, and that our streams and fish will again have the protection of the EPA in the coming four years. Hoping all of you are well and that your fishing prospects are looking good.
"He spread them a yard and a half. 'And every one that got away is this big.'"

--Fred Chappell
Red_green_h
Red_green_h's profile picture
New Mexico

Posts: 64
Red_green_h on Nov 26, 2020November 26th, 2020, 9:45 am EST
Likewise, there is always a lot to be thanful for. Family, fish, health. Hopefully be heading up to the Jemez Mts next Wednesday or Thursday to find some Rio Grande cutthroat. I'll be sure to share success or failures. Either way it will be beautiful and cold.
Partsman
Partsman's profile picture
bancroft michigan

Posts: 321
Partsman on Nov 26, 2020November 26th, 2020, 10:17 am EST
Same to everyone here!
Mike.

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