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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.

Dorsal view of a Grammotaulius betteni (Limnephilidae) (Northern Caddisfly) Caddisfly Larva from the Yakima River in Washington
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.
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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NEMatt
New Hampshire

Posts: 13
NEMatt on Jul 9, 2014July 9th, 2014, 10:12 pm EDT
Am I missing something here? I bought a new copy of Caucci and Nastasi's Hatches II and it's missing pages 189 to 220. These pages weren't torn out, they simply aren't there. Can't find anything online that suggests a printing error.

Has anyone else noticed this problem?
Johnvan61
Johnvan61's profile picture
southeast

Posts: 9
Johnvan61 on Jul 10, 2014July 10th, 2014, 10:10 am EDT
No clue about that book but I do know some of the flies in Selective Trout's first edition,1987,no longer exist so they are not in the updated version, 2001. Maybe this also happened to Hatches II. I have read here a lot of the older names for mayflys are no longer used. Just a guess.---HTH---John
"my mind is like oatmeal"

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