Salmonflies
Pteronarcys californica
The giant Salmonflies of the Western mountains are legendary for their proclivity to elicit consistent dry-fly action and ferocious strikes.
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This specimen resembled several others of around the same size and perhaps the same species, which were pretty common in my February sample from the upper Yakima. Unfortunately, I misplaced the specimen before I could get it under a microscope for a definitive ID.
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Crepuscular has attached these 3 pictures to aid in identification. The message is below.
Entoman on Mar 1, 2012March 1st, 2012, 11:39 am EST
Looks more like Strophopteryx fasciata (Mottled Willowfly, aka Little February Red) to me, Eric.
http://www.pbase.com/tmurray74/image/111459174
Yours is a male, BTW.
Both are reported from PA and look very similar, but the unique muted banding on the wings is what tipped me off. Here's a good photo of Taeniopteryx parvula (Hooked Willowfly) for comparison. http://bugguide.net/node/view/260929#397606
http://www.pbase.com/tmurray74/image/111459174
Yours is a male, BTW.
Both are reported from PA and look very similar, but the unique muted banding on the wings is what tipped me off. Here's a good photo of Taeniopteryx parvula (Hooked Willowfly) for comparison. http://bugguide.net/node/view/260929#397606
"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
Crepuscular on Mar 1, 2012March 1st, 2012, 12:31 pm EST
Thanks!
Oldredbarn on Mar 2, 2012March 2nd, 2012, 8:10 am EST
Strophopteryx fasciata (Mottled Willowfly, aka Little February Red)
When did this happen? While I was asleep :)...What happened to Brachyptera fasciata?
I'm going to have to try and stop hassling the trout for a moment and take some pictures this season...I'm having a small problem with the available hatch charts as well...I have a bug in late May that looks a great deal like this one with the orange trim. Most of the charts have it done by early May???
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
"Envy not the man who lives beside the river, but the man the river flows through." Joseph T Heywood
Crepuscular on Mar 2, 2012March 2nd, 2012, 8:22 am EST
Collected this one yesterday on my way home 
Entoman on Mar 2, 2012March 2nd, 2012, 8:52 am EST
Looks like another Strophopteryx fasciata, only a darker because of the light in the photo, Erik.
Spence -
:) Well, you've put Rip Van Winkle to shame on this one. Brachyptera is a genus name in the old classification system established by Stanley Jewitt back when dinosaurs roamed the earth. In 1977, R.W. Bauman, et.al. introduced a new classification system that is now the standard, though revisions that give mayfly workers a run for their money are constantly ongoing.:)
Brachyptera is now an obsolete name, though its taxonomic history is recognized in the current subfamily name, Brachypterinae. All the species were moved to newly named genera.
Under the old Jewitt system, all the little early dark stones were in the same family, Nemouridae. The new system has them broken up into four families. Nemouridae has retained its family status, but most of the important genera have been moved to others, analogous to what happened to the mayfly genus Stenonema.
Spence -
When did this happen? While I was asleep :)...What happened to Brachyptera fasciata?
:) Well, you've put Rip Van Winkle to shame on this one. Brachyptera is a genus name in the old classification system established by Stanley Jewitt back when dinosaurs roamed the earth. In 1977, R.W. Bauman, et.al. introduced a new classification system that is now the standard, though revisions that give mayfly workers a run for their money are constantly ongoing.:)
Brachyptera is now an obsolete name, though its taxonomic history is recognized in the current subfamily name, Brachypterinae. All the species were moved to newly named genera.
Under the old Jewitt system, all the little early dark stones were in the same family, Nemouridae. The new system has them broken up into four families. Nemouridae has retained its family status, but most of the important genera have been moved to others, analogous to what happened to the mayfly genus Stenonema.
"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
Crepuscular on Mar 2, 2012March 2nd, 2012, 9:10 am EST
Yeah i thought so too interesting how much darker this one is not as much of the brownish orange. There are three threads going on these critters right now I'm getting confused.
Entoman on Mar 2, 2012March 2nd, 2012, 9:16 am EST
Eric -
Yeah, we should probably reserve our conversations about what is going on for the "confused" topic and just stick to determinations on the others.
Yeah, we should probably reserve our conversations about what is going on for the "confused" topic and just stick to determinations on the others.
"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
Oldredbarn on Mar 2, 2012March 2nd, 2012, 10:11 am EST
"confused"
Kurt...This might apply to most of our threads most of the time...:)
Rip Van...:) Well there is a Van in my last name...;) I think that the old hatch charts around these parts need some serious updating! I remember an old cabin I would stay in from time-to-time had an old one screwed to the wall and we would laugh about how outdated that one was...Maybe its time for a house cleaning!
Maybe if we could get Jason back down here in the Lower 48 and warm up that camera of his we could fill in some holes and lock this up...
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
"Envy not the man who lives beside the river, but the man the river flows through." Joseph T Heywood
Entoman on Mar 2, 2012March 2nd, 2012, 10:37 am EST
Spence -
Ha! Even if we could get a hundred Jasons coordinated, they'd never get the job done. The biodiversity on this continent is astounding. I agree they'd put a pretty good dent in it, though. The problem then would be we'd have a hundred more guys arguing over what to call them!:)
Maybe if we could get Jason back down here in the Lower 48 and warm up that camera of his we could fill in some holes and lock this up...
Ha! Even if we could get a hundred Jasons coordinated, they'd never get the job done. The biodiversity on this continent is astounding. I agree they'd put a pretty good dent in it, though. The problem then would be we'd have a hundred more guys arguing over what to call them!:)
"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
Oldredbarn on Mar 2, 2012March 2nd, 2012, 5:00 pm EST
Kurt,
Maybe we could get him to come to Michigan and help me out a bit...:) We got to start somewhere. Might as well be the great state of Michigan...
Spence
Maybe we could get him to come to Michigan and help me out a bit...:) We got to start somewhere. Might as well be the great state of Michigan...
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
"Envy not the man who lives beside the river, but the man the river flows through." Joseph T Heywood
Entoman on Mar 2, 2012March 2nd, 2012, 7:23 pm EST
Well, get him a job at Michigan!:) It's a lot closer to good fishing than that other university in East Lansing. My sense is with that degree of his, he'll end up on the West Coast though.
"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
Oldredbarn on Mar 3, 2012March 3rd, 2012, 8:26 pm EST
Well, get him a job at Michigan!:) It's a lot closer to good fishing than that other university in East Lansing.
We may have to send you a good map Kurt...:) East Lansing's technically "closer" to the Holy Water and "up north" than Ann Arbor which is 45 mins west of Detroit.
I spent this evening, by-the-way, in Ann Arbor with my wife, my step-sister, and her daughter...They are visiting from Hawaii and I wanted to show my niece, who just graduated from high school, a place her uncle would like to see her study...Hawaii unfortunately is hard to beat.
After a tour of the town, dinner, and a nice blue-grass concert I think she was way more pleased with having had spent the time with her uncle than marveling at the Harvard of the midwest. :)
Now Jason, on-the-other-hand, might fall for my wine-and-dine...:)
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
"Envy not the man who lives beside the river, but the man the river flows through." Joseph T Heywood
Entoman on Mar 3, 2012March 3rd, 2012, 9:46 pm EST
:):)LOL
"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
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