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.

I spent more than an hour casting to several rising trout in this pool and caught only two. Its clear water and tricky currents harbor dozens of free-rising, usually very hard-to-catch fish.

From Enfield Creek in New York

Stream photos

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Neoleptophlebia Mayfly Nymph Neoleptophlebia Mayfly Nymph

Dorsal view of a Neoleptophlebia (Leptophlebiidae) Mayfly Nymph from the Yakima River in Washington

Some characteristics from the microscope images for the tentative species id: The postero-lateral projections are found only on segment 9, not segment 8. Based on the key in Jacobus et al. (2014), it appears to key to Neoleptophlebia adoptiva or Neoleptophlebia heteronea, same as this specimen with pretty different abdominal markings. However, distinguishing between those calls for comparing the lengths of the second and third segment of the labial palp, and this one (like the other one) only seems to have two segments. So I'm stuck on them both. It's likely that the fact that they're immature nymphs stymies identification in some important way.

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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.

Gumaga sp.

Millcreek has attached these 6 pictures to aid in identification. The message is below.

Millcreek
Healdsburg, CA

Posts: 344

Millcreek on Feb 16, 2015February 16th, 2015, 6:22 am EST

This larvae is common to Mill Creek, a tributary of the Russian River. Haven't found it in the river yet, but it's seasonally common in the stream. Keyed it out to genus in Merritt, Cummins and Berg (2008). Curious as to species. Any help would be appreciated.

"If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?"
-Albert Einstein

PaulRoberts

Colorado

Posts: 1776

PaulRoberts on Feb 16, 2015February 16th, 2015, 1:59 pm EST

Pretty thing.

Gutcutter

Pennsylvania

Posts: 470

Gutcutter on Feb 17, 2015February 17th, 2015, 3:26 am EST

Does anybody know how they make that type of case?
Very cool.
Some amazing engineering.

All men who fish may in turn be divided into two parts: those who fish for trout and those who don't. Trout fishermen are a race apart: they are a dedicated crew- indolent, improvident, and quietly mad.

-Robert Traver, Trout Madness

Taxon

Site Editor
Plano, TX

Posts: 1311

Taxon on Feb 17, 2015February 17th, 2015, 6:14 am EST

Hi Tony-

Does anybody know how they make that type of case?

Caddisfly larvae use a mouthpart gland which extrudes silk as a binding agent to build their cases.

Best regards,
Roger Rohrbeck
www.FlyfishingEntomology.com

Creno
Grants Pass, OR

Posts: 302

Creno on Feb 17, 2015February 17th, 2015, 7:43 am EST

Gumaga is a great taxa to initiate a discussion of the species concept. There are numerous publications from the Resh Lab involving Gumaga "species". (http://nature.berkeley.edu/reshlab/) Ya probably should start with Jackson and Resh 1998. (Jackson, John K., Resh, Vincent H. 1998. Morphologically cryptic species confound ecological studies of the caddisfly genus Gumaga (Trichoptera: Sericostomatidae) in northern California. Aquatic Insects 20: 69-84.)