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Lateral view of a Female Hexagenia limbata (Ephemeridae) (Hex) Mayfly Dun from the Namekagon River in Wisconsin
Hex Mayflies
Hexagenia limbata

The famous nocturnal Hex hatch of the Midwest (and a few other lucky locations) stirs to the surface mythically large brown trout that only touch streamers for the rest of the year.

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
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Moderator
Palmyra PA

Posts: 3047
Martinlf on May 1, 2009May 1st, 2009, 1:53 pm EDT
I don't have a photo, but fishing a central PA stream yesterday I encountered a hatch of size 20 olives late afternoon into early evening. Would anyone out there hazard a guess as to the species given the time of day and time of year?
"He spread them a yard and a half. 'And every one that got away is this big.'"

--Fred Chappell
Taxon
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Site Editor
Plano, TX

Posts: 1311
Taxon on May 1, 2009May 1st, 2009, 3:57 pm EDT
Louis-

My guess would be Acentrella turbida (formerly classified as Pseudocloeon carolina among others), and an early-May late-afternoon/evening emerger, which would be of the size you describe.
Best regards,
Roger Rohrbeck
www.FlyfishingEntomology.com
Konchu
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Site Editor
Indiana

Posts: 498
Konchu on May 2, 2009May 2nd, 2009, 5:00 am EDT
I agree. At least around here, the Acentrella have been thick this spring. The other possibility are some Plauditus spp. These also were included in Pseudocloeon at one time. The biggest visual difference between the two is the color of the abdomen: brown in Acentrella and whitish in Plauditus. The nymphs look alot a like, too: they both are two-tailed minnow-like forms, but the plauditus might have a stripe in the middle of the body and tails.

Martinlf
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Moderator
Palmyra PA

Posts: 3047
Martinlf on May 3, 2009May 3rd, 2009, 5:36 pm EDT
Thank you, gentlemen.
"He spread them a yard and a half. 'And every one that got away is this big.'"

--Fred Chappell

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