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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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Kegerreism has attached these 2 pictures to aid in identification. The message is below.
Front angle with flash
Same bug, side angle, no flash
Kegerreism
Greenville, NC

Posts: 1
Kegerreism on Apr 17, 2012April 17th, 2012, 7:34 am EDT
Could use some identifying this. I live in a somewhat wooded area in eastern North Carolina. The coloration and ridge patterns are different than the bedbug pics I'm finding but I'd rather be safe than sorry.
Creno
Grants Pass, OR

Posts: 302
Creno on Apr 17, 2012April 17th, 2012, 8:51 am EDT
not a bed bug - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bed_bug
you have a beetle
Jmw975
Guelph, Ontario

Posts: 20
Jmw975 on Oct 31, 2012October 31st, 2012, 6:59 pm EDT
Looks like a Carpet Beetle (Dermestidae) of some sort to me, but I'm certainly no expert when it come to terrestrial insects!

Jeff
Entoman
Entoman's profile picture
Northern CA & ID

Posts: 2604
Entoman on Nov 1, 2012November 1st, 2012, 3:50 pm EDT
I agree, Jeff. Looks like a carpet beetle to me too. These little devils are fly tying material Enemy #1 in my neck of the woods...

Tier alert!

1. Keep your feathers and hair in thick poly bags (freezer grade or better)!. They chew right through the thin stuff.

2. They don't like mothballs but cedar doesn't seem to bother them in the least.

3. Their larvae and the damage they do look very similar to moths (that get most of the blame). Since they don't fly around like moths they are usually much harder to detect. Bottom line - if you find one of these tiny devils on a drape or wall, you probably have issues if there's a bunch of wool clothing stuffed in a closet or fly tying materials improperly stored.

4. Those that take portable tying kits with them on the road, keep them off the floor and don't leave organics laying out in your room. You don't want these hitchhikers... :(
"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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