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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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.
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.
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Catskilljon on Feb 5, 2015February 5th, 2015, 12:51 pm EST
I am really enjoying these little stories, and have at times found my self "wishing" for different times...like the grass is always greener philosophy. Truth be told, we live in a pretty good era to be flyfishing.
Being a Catskill guy, I wished I was around to have been able to hang out at Darbee's shop and shoot the poop with McClain and Bill Kelly, have a bite to eat at the Antrim and see the Catskills during the 60's-70's. One must keep in mind though the quality of the fishing back then and earlier. Pollution was a huge problem, raw sewage and industrial by-products being flushed into the streams. The quality of fish were not as good as a result, and many streams suffered. Today, with all the effort on conservation and organizations like TU and FUDR, we are seeing healthier fish and cleaner water, better hatches and the continuance of the above stated.
It would have been cool to try a "new" graphite rod, right when they were introduced, but I am happy in our era too! CJ
Being a Catskill guy, I wished I was around to have been able to hang out at Darbee's shop and shoot the poop with McClain and Bill Kelly, have a bite to eat at the Antrim and see the Catskills during the 60's-70's. One must keep in mind though the quality of the fishing back then and earlier. Pollution was a huge problem, raw sewage and industrial by-products being flushed into the streams. The quality of fish were not as good as a result, and many streams suffered. Today, with all the effort on conservation and organizations like TU and FUDR, we are seeing healthier fish and cleaner water, better hatches and the continuance of the above stated.
It would have been cool to try a "new" graphite rod, right when they were introduced, but I am happy in our era too! CJ
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