Header image
Enter a name
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.

Ventral view of a Hydropsyche (Hydropsychidae) (Spotted Sedge) Caddisfly Larva from the Yakima River in Washington
With a bit of help from the microscope, this specimen keys clearly and unsurprisingly to Hydropsyche.
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.
Troutnut is a project started in 2003 by salmonid ecologist Jason "Troutnut" Neuswanger to help anglers and fly tyers unabashedly embrace the entomological side of the sport. Learn more about Troutnut or support the project for an enhanced experience here.

Wiflyfisher
Wiflyfisher's profile picture
Wisconsin

Posts: 622
Wiflyfisher on Feb 3, 2010February 3rd, 2010, 7:57 am EST
Okay, name that bug...

Full view here: http://www.wiflyfisher.com/images/april-stonefly.jpg
March / April hatch in the Upper Midwest.
Oldredbarn
Oldredbarn's profile picture
Novi, MI

Posts: 2600
Oldredbarn on Feb 3, 2010February 3rd, 2010, 9:22 am EST
Taeniopteryx nivalis....Just a guess here...An Early Black Stone?

Spence

I've already hedged my bet due to in only being 2/3...But I'm not sure just how old the photo is...My second guess: Allocapnia granulata...These may be out and about now...Tiny Black Stone...I was just looking at a penny and trying to gauge the hook size...I may stick with my first guess...Just call me wishy-washy!
"Even when my best efforts fail it's a satisfying challenge, and that, after all, is the essence of fly fishing." -Chauncy Lively

"Envy not the man who lives beside the river, but the man the river flows through." Joseph T Heywood
Falsifly
Falsifly's profile picture
Hayward, WI.

Posts: 660
Falsifly on Feb 3, 2010February 3rd, 2010, 10:07 am EST
What have I got to lose, I haven’t hit one yet. I would say from the Family Capniidae but the tails should be visible. That leaves me thinking Leuctridae. Those wings do appear rolled but I understand how deceptive photos can be.
Falsifly
When asked what I just caught that monster on I showed him. He put on his magnifiers and said, "I can't believe they can see that."
Wiflyfisher
Wiflyfisher's profile picture
Wisconsin

Posts: 622
Wiflyfisher on Feb 3, 2010February 3rd, 2010, 1:55 pm EST
The best I could tell is it is the same bug as what Jason collected. Both stoneflies are from the same river. But mine was from last Spring and Jason's photos were from 2004.

Strophopteryx fasciata (Early Brown Stonefly)

http://www.troutnut.com/specimen/346
Troutnut
Troutnut's profile picture
Administrator
Bellevue, WA

Posts: 2758
Troutnut on Feb 19, 2010February 19th, 2010, 9:26 am EST
Looks pretty close to me, although I think there are multiple species of Taeniopgerygids in that river and I can't tell the adults apart at a glance.
Jason Neuswanger, Ph.D.
Troutnut and salmonid ecologist
Entoman
Entoman's profile picture
Northern CA & ID

Posts: 2604
Entoman on Mar 23, 2012March 23rd, 2012, 10:59 am EDT
I think John is right, the wing venation looks to match fasciata (Mottled Willowfly). The photo is in a bit of shadow so the light mottling of the wings is hard to make out.
"It's not that I find fishing so important, it's just that I find all other endeavors of Man equally unimportant... And not nearly as much fun!" Robert Traver, Anatomy of a Fisherman
Wiflyfisher
Wiflyfisher's profile picture
Wisconsin

Posts: 622
Wiflyfisher on Mar 23, 2012March 23rd, 2012, 12:07 pm EDT
Kurt, mine came from the same river and the same time period as Jason's stonefly (although different year), so I assumed that it is the same.

http://www.troutnut.com/specimen/346

Entoman
Entoman's profile picture
Northern CA & ID

Posts: 2604
Entoman on Mar 23, 2012March 23rd, 2012, 5:17 pm EDT
Yep, there's the mottled wings.
"It's not that I find fishing so important, it's just that I find all other endeavors of Man equally unimportant... And not nearly as much fun!" Robert Traver, Anatomy of a Fisherman
Entoman
Entoman's profile picture
Northern CA & ID

Posts: 2604
Entoman on Mar 23, 2012March 23rd, 2012, 10:09 pm EDT
Al - An easy way to often tell leuctrids (needleflies) at a glance is that their wings are usually pretty close to abdomen width at mid-wing when fully folded (enveloped is a better word). They're also much slenderer critters than the willowflies.
http://bugguide.net/node/view/442464

Spence - You were closer with your first guess, though Taeniopteryx nivalis (Boreal Willowfly aka February Red) is in a different subfamily. It is also a much larger insect and usually more brownish as the common name implies. The nymphs can be 3/4" body length.

As for you other guess, the easiest way to tell capniids (snowflies) from other little dark Winter stones (besides usually being the tiniest) are the long tails jutting out from under their wings. The others are vestigial.
http://eol.org/pages/613448/overview
"It's not that I find fishing so important, it's just that I find all other endeavors of Man equally unimportant... And not nearly as much fun!" Robert Traver, Anatomy of a Fisherman

Quick Reply

Related Discussions

Topic
Replies
Last Reply
4
Aug 26, 2008
by Taxon
Troutnut.com is copyright © 2004-2024 (email Jason). privacy policy