Lateral view of a Female Hexagenia limbata (Ephemeridae) (Hex) Mayfly Dun from the Namekagon River in Wisconsin

Hex Mayflies
Hexagenia limbata

The famous nocturnal Hex hatch of the Midwest (and a few other lucky locations) stirs to the surface mythically large brown trout that only touch streamers for the rest of the year.

This little pool in update New York is enjoyed by many tourists every day, and it still holds a few trout -- stockers mostly, but you can't complain about the setting!

From Mystery Creek # 62 in New York

Stream photos

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Glossosoma (Little Brown Short-horned Sedge) Caddisfly Larva Glossosoma (Little Brown Short-horned Sedge) Caddisfly Larva

Dorsal view of a Glossosoma (Glossosomatidae) (Little Brown Short-horned Sedge) Caddisfly Larva from the Yakima River in Washington

I caught this tiny larva without a case, but it seems to key pretty clearly to to Glossosomatidae. From there, the lack of sclerites on the mesonotum points to either Glossosoma or Anagapetus. Although it's difficult to see in a 2D image from the microscope, it's pretty clear in the live 3D view that the pronotum is only excised about 1/3 of its length to accommodate the forecoxa, not 2/3, which points to Glossosoma at Couplet 5 of the Key to Genera of Glossosomatidae Larvae.

11 Recently Added Photos

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.

Perhaps Platycentropus

Lepidostoma (Little Brown Sedge) Caddisfly Larva

10 Pictures

Case view of a Lepidostoma (Lepidostomatidae) (Little Brown Sedge) Caddisfly Larva from Mongaup Creek in New York

This one got a little bit damaged in the abdomen when I extracted it from its case. That's a delicate job.

Collected May 5, 2007 from Mongaup Creek in New York

Added by Troutnut on May 18, 2007

Collected May 5, 2007 from Mongaup Creek in New York and added by Troutnut on May 18, 2007

Taxon

Site Editor
Plano, TX

Posts: 1311

Taxon on May 18, 2007May 18th, 2007, 10:04 am EDT

Based on the case, I would think Platycentropus. Can you see if it has prosternal horns extending beyond the head capsule to mentum of labium? See Merrit p. 375 Figure 18.191.

Best regards,
Roger Rohrbeck
www.FlyfishingEntomology.com

Troutnut

Administrator
Bellevue, WA

Posts: 2758

Troutnut on May 18, 2007May 18th, 2007, 11:25 am EDT

It doesn't. The prosternal horns only reach to the back of the head. It took about 10 minutes screwing around under a microscope to even see the prosternal horns (the whole thing is about half a centimeter long and the legs really wanted to be in the way). But I finally got a good view, and they are short, so that rules ot Platycentropus. The case seemed like a good match, though.

Jason Neuswanger, Ph.D.
Troutnut and salmonid ecologist