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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.

Dorsal view of a Ephemerella mucronata (Ephemerellidae) Mayfly Nymph from the Yakima River in Washington
This is an interesting one. Following the keys in Merritt R.W., Cummins, K.W., and Berg, M.B. (2019) and Jacobus et al. (2014), it keys clearly to Ephemerella. Jacobus et al provide a key to species, but some of the characteristics are tricky to interpret without illustrations. If I didn't make any mistakes, this one keys to Ephemerella mucronata, which has not previously been reported any closer to here than Montana and Alberta. The main character seems to fit well: "Abdominal terga with prominent, paired, subparallel, spiculate ridges." Several illustrations or descriptions of this holarctic species from the US and Europe seem to match, including the body length, tarsal claws and denticles, labial palp, and gill shapes. These sources include including Richard Allen's original description of this species in North America under the now-defunct name E. moffatae in Allen RK (1977) and the figures in this description of the species in Italy.
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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DayTripper has attached this picture to aid in identification. The message is below.
DayTripper
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Northern MI

Posts: 70
DayTripper on Jun 7, 2013June 7th, 2013, 7:36 pm EDT
I am pretty sure this is a March Brown female but wanted to post here to confirm. I caught one with the egg sac hanging out a few minutes before, and then pulled in two mating pairs where the female had this red belly full of eggs. Pretty excited about it! Thanks!
DayTripper
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Northern MI

Posts: 70
DayTripper on Jun 7, 2013June 7th, 2013, 8:25 pm EDT
Sure did, I've actually got a couple dozen different bugs I'm planning to post here for help on the ID, just don't want to blow the place up :)
Oldredbarn
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Novi, MI

Posts: 2600
Oldredbarn on Jun 10, 2013June 10th, 2013, 1:50 pm EDT
Nice pic!

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

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