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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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Phels29 has attached these 3 pictures to aid in identification. The message is below.
Phels29
collinsville, CT

Posts: 1
Phels29 on Apr 29, 2009April 29th, 2009, 4:14 pm EDT
As somebody who is somewhat new to I have learned the technical aspect of Fly Fishing, but I am still learning what alot of the Flys are. So when I am out on the river and somebody says there is a hatch of red quills or the March Browns are emerging right now I am kinda scratching my head like everybody is speaking greek. I was able to snag this fly by the river today and I was curious to know if anybody could help me identify this. It was caught on the Farmington River in Connecticut in the evening.
GONZO
Site Editor
"Bear Swamp," PA

Posts: 1681
GONZO on Apr 29, 2009April 29th, 2009, 4:26 pm EDT
This is male Callibaetis dun, aka "speckled dun." It's interesting that you found it on the Farmington; they are usually more common on ponds and lakes (still water). Did you see many of them?
Byhaugh
Hawaii

Posts: 56
Byhaugh on Feb 25, 2015February 25th, 2015, 9:06 am EST
We see them on the slower stretches of the zhenry's Fork if I'm not mistaken.

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