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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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Lateral view of a Female Stenacron interpunctatum (Heptageniidae) (Light Cahill) Mayfly Dun from the West Branch of Owego Creek in New York
This is a fairly small late-season female Stenacron dun.
Taxon
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Taxon on Aug 23, 2006August 23rd, 2006, 8:24 pm EDT
Looks to be Stenacron interpunctatum (Stenonema heterotarsale).
Best regards,
Roger Rohrbeck
www.FlyfishingEntomology.com
Troutnut
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Troutnut on Aug 24, 2006August 24th, 2006, 4:29 am EDT
Thanks. I guess that's sort of the default guess.

Do you know any reference to rule out the other species of Stenacron? I'll have to check my papers more carefully but I don't think I've found a good one yet. You're probably right just based on distribution and abundance, but I've collected such a wide range of Stenacron specimens (all listed under interpunctatum on this site) that it's hard to believe they're all the same species.
Jason Neuswanger, Ph.D.
Troutnut and salmonid ecologist
Taxon
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Plano, TX

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Taxon on Aug 24, 2006August 24th, 2006, 8:26 am EDT
Jason-

My guess is based on the striking similarity of your photo to the photo labeled "Stenonema heterotarsale, female dun" on Color Plate XI in Hatches II. The wing coloring, venation, and marking are about as close as I've ever seen.
Best regards,
Roger Rohrbeck
www.FlyfishingEntomology.com
Wiflyfisher
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Wisconsin

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Wiflyfisher on Aug 24, 2006August 24th, 2006, 2:34 pm EDT
My guess is based on the striking similarity of your photo to the photo labeled "Stenonema heterotarsale, female dun" on Color Plate XI in Hatches II. The wing coloring, venation, and marking are about as close as I've ever seen.


In the past I have caught those same mayflies on the *********** River in NW WI. and came to the same conclusion using photos in Hatches.
Troutnut
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Troutnut on Aug 24, 2006August 24th, 2006, 3:36 pm EDT
My main concern with the identification is that the differences between different Stenacron species may only be discernible in the male spinner forceps or nymph mouth parts or something. I'll try to find a better reference to the genus and figure iout.
Jason Neuswanger, Ph.D.
Troutnut and salmonid ecologist
Taxon
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Posts: 1311
Taxon on Aug 24, 2006August 24th, 2006, 4:45 pm EDT
Jason-

Good point. Let me know what you find.
Best regards,
Roger Rohrbeck
www.FlyfishingEntomology.com

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