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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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Jmd123
Jmd123's profile picture
Oscoda, MI

Posts: 2474
Jmd123 on Aug 6, 2010August 6th, 2010, 9:27 am EDT
Funny how wacky and off-topic some of these threads can get...and you know, alcohol is a PLANT-derived product, fitting in with the vegetarian lifestyle quite nicely...

Now, my original fly-fishing mentor, a fellow who tought plant ecology during my "formative" years at the U of M Biological Station and was a highly accomplished forest ecologist himself, used to say he liked to have a beer before hitting the stream to "steady his nerves". He also liked to "smoke a rope" - actually, a cigar - while fishing as his "mosquito repellant". I do not emulate either of these activities - hell, I don't even LIKE beer or tobacco - but there were more than a few days on the Huron in Ann Arbor when, being right across the road from the river, I would stumble over in various states of mind and fish since it didn't involve driving a car! Of course, the nice cool water against my legs and ass and the thrilling fights from the smallies as they turned sideways in the current helped me keep focus...

Jonathon

No matter how big the one you just caught is, there's always a bigger one out there somewhere...
Oldredbarn
Oldredbarn's profile picture
Novi, MI

Posts: 2600
Oldredbarn on Aug 6, 2010August 6th, 2010, 2:51 pm EDT
Jon,

You don't have to worry too much about Taxon...a boy with a last name like Rohrbeck understands the old Reinheitsgebot...Bier = Wasser, Gerste, und Hopfen...period! No better protein supplement for a veg-o...by-the-way...Or at least that's what I keep telling my long suffering Frau. I just like my vitamins in a liquid format.

Spence

Roger...Wilkommen wieder zuruck! Es ist gut zu wissen, du bist immer noch bei uns! Verstehen?
"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
Jmd123
Jmd123's profile picture
Oscoda, MI

Posts: 2474
Jmd123 on Aug 6, 2010August 6th, 2010, 6:39 pm EDT
Ich auch spreche ein bischen Deutsch...aber nur eine kleine bischen...

Check your private mail for an SBF report, Herr Spencenmeister.

Jonathon
No matter how big the one you just caught is, there's always a bigger one out there somewhere...
Taxon
Taxon's profile picture
Site Editor
Plano, TX

Posts: 1311
Taxon on Aug 6, 2010August 6th, 2010, 8:09 pm EDT
Roger...Wilkommen wieder zuruck! Es ist gut zu wissen, du bist immer noch bei uns! Verstehen?


Spence-

Nicht verstehen. Wenn Sie sich beziehen mein Posting-Frequenz, nicht sehr viele Kommentare über Taxonomie im letzten Monat oder zwei.
Best regards,
Roger Rohrbeck
www.FlyfishingEntomology.com
Oldredbarn
Oldredbarn's profile picture
Novi, MI

Posts: 2600
Oldredbarn on Aug 8, 2010August 8th, 2010, 5:44 am EDT
Roger,

Ok...But you are allowed to just drop by and straighten out us weirdos when we blow off course...Which we are wont to do, eh! Or you could just say hello from time-to-time so we don't worry that you may have wandered off somewhere...:)

May be you three "bugs boys" have finally got us neophytes up to speed a bit...Nah!!! We are slow learners no doubt.

I'll try and get you something to look at over the next couple weeks here to keep you busy a bit.

Take Care!

Spence

"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
Taxon
Taxon's profile picture
Site Editor
Plano, TX

Posts: 1311
Taxon on Aug 8, 2010August 8th, 2010, 8:57 am EDT
Spence,

I'll try to be more sensitive to your concerns.
Best regards,
Roger Rohrbeck
www.FlyfishingEntomology.com

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