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.
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This is a striking caddis larva with an interesting color pattern on the head. Here are some characteristics I was able to see under the microscope, but could not easily expose for a picture:
- The prosternal horn is present.
- The mandible is clearly toothed, not formed into a uniform scraper blade.
- The seems to be only 2 major setae on the ventral edge of the hind femur.
- Chloride epithelia seem to be absent from the dorsal side of any abdominal segments.
Based on these characteristics and the ones more easily visible from the pictures, this seems to be Grammotaulius. The key's description of the case is spot-on: "Case cylindrical, made of longitudinally arranged sedge or similar leaves," as is the description of the markings on the head, "Dorsum of head light brownish yellow with numerous discrete, small, dark spots." The spot pattern on the head is a very good match to figure 19.312 of Merritt R.W., Cummins, K.W., and Berg, M.B. (2019). The species ID is based on Grammotaulius betteni being the only species of this genus known in Washington state.
- The prosternal horn is present.
- The mandible is clearly toothed, not formed into a uniform scraper blade.
- The seems to be only 2 major setae on the ventral edge of the hind femur.
- Chloride epithelia seem to be absent from the dorsal side of any abdominal segments.
Based on these characteristics and the ones more easily visible from the pictures, this seems to be Grammotaulius. The key's description of the case is spot-on: "Case cylindrical, made of longitudinally arranged sedge or similar leaves," as is the description of the markings on the head, "Dorsum of head light brownish yellow with numerous discrete, small, dark spots." The spot pattern on the head is a very good match to figure 19.312 of Merritt R.W., Cummins, K.W., and Berg, M.B. (2019). The species ID is based on Grammotaulius betteni being the only species of this genus known in Washington state.
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Entoman on Jan 16, 2013January 16th, 2013, 10:01 am EST
Mentioning Spring on JA 16? I love your optimism, Eric.:)
Looks like Baetis tricaudatus (prev. B. vagans) to me.
Bruce - I like to call them Olive Quills, but they go by a lot of names, including the omnipresent or should I say gratingly pervasive BWO.:)
Looks like Baetis tricaudatus (prev. B. vagans) to me.
Bruce - I like to call them Olive Quills, but they go by a lot of names, including the omnipresent or should I say gratingly pervasive BWO.:)
"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 Jan 16, 2013January 16th, 2013, 10:20 am EST
No mention of the season, collected from Big Spring Creek. But hey I'm ready, bring it on!!! I just have to tie a few more flies.
Entoman on Jan 16, 2013January 16th, 2013, 10:25 am EST
LOL:) I thought you were referring to a large sized baetid that hatches in the Spring! There's just not enough PA in me...:)
"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 Jan 16, 2013January 16th, 2013, 11:15 am EST
I'm just pennsylcentric...
Martinlf on Jan 16, 2013January 16th, 2013, 11:52 am EST
Eric, how big was the nymph, and how close to hatching would you say? The wing pads aren't dark, but I don't know enough to tell how well developed the wings might be.
"He spread them a yard and a half. 'And every one that got away is this big.'"
--Fred Chappell
--Fred Chappell
Lastchance on Jan 16, 2013January 16th, 2013, 12:33 pm EST
Love it, thanks for the English. I dunno know, you sure that's a Spring arrival?
Crepuscular on Jan 16, 2013January 16th, 2013, 4:32 pm EST
Eric, how big was the nymph, and how close to hatching would you say? The wing pads aren't dark, but I don't know enough to tell how well developed the wings might be.
5 mm. I don't know about how long until emergence, Like you observed, the wing pads are still relatively light. But they are well developed.
Love it, thanks for the English. I dunno know, you sure that's a Spring arrival?
No im not sure of about 90% of the things I say. I never said it was going to hatch this spring. it was collected from Big Spring Creek. :)
Oldredbarn on Jan 16, 2013January 16th, 2013, 6:42 pm EST
I just have to tie a few more flies.
Just a few? ;)
I never said it was going to hatch this spring
She's going to have a hard time hatching in spring Eric if you didn't put her back. :) The cousins will be ready, when the time is right...I promise.
I love your optimism, Eric.:)
Kurt...Everything about that bug is optimistic to us Midwesterners...They are like candy to winter starved salmonids. The river gods use them to reintroduce the trout to the surface...Almost brings tears to my eyes!
Nice pics there Eric!
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
Falsifly on Jan 16, 2013January 16th, 2013, 7:53 pm EST
She's going to have a hard time hatching in spring Eric if you didn't put her back. :)
"She's"? So Spence, was that determination a result of your keen interest in genitalia?
Falsifly
When asked what I just caught that monster on I showed him. He put on his magnifiers and said, "I can't believe they can see that."
When asked what I just caught that monster on I showed him. He put on his magnifiers and said, "I can't believe they can see that."
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