Animal Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

The top of this stump is covered with mayfly and caddisfly life.

In this picture: Insect Order Ephemeroptera (Mayflies) and Insect Order Trichoptera (Caddisflies).

There's a stonefly nymph in the bottom right corner of this picture, but what's really interesting is those white blotches. They're pretty common in my Wisconsin home river river, stuck flat onto the rocks--lots of rocks have a speckled look as a result. They are microcaddis cases, made by larvae of the caddisfly family Hydroptilidae. These are made by larvae of the subfamily Leucotrichiinae, most likely the genus Leucotrichia. They spin little flat oval cases of silk tight and immobile against the rocks.

In this picture: Caddisfly Species Leucotrichia pictipes (Ring Horn Microcaddis).

Several caddis larvae cling in the current amongst the debris collected on an underwater alder branch.

In this picture: Insect Order Trichoptera (Caddisflies).

An Ephemerella subvaria nymph clings to a white rock in the foreground, and there are other nymphs in the background.

In this picture: Mayfly Species Ephemerella subvaria (Hendrickson) and Insect Order Trichoptera (Caddisflies).

A big crayfish lurks under a log.

In this picture: Arthropod Order Decapoda (Crayfish).

This Brachycentrus "Apple Caddis" struggled more than its kin in escaping its pupal skin, enabling me to take an underwater picture of it from directly below. This is sort of a trout's eye view, but I used the flash for the picture so the transparent shuck (

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Here's an underwater view of the pupal shucks of several already-emerged Brachycentrus numerosus caddisflies.

Shuck: The shed exoskeleton left over when an insect molts into its next stage or instar. Most often it describes the last nymphal or pupal skin exited during emergence into a winged adult.) appears far brighter than it really is.

In this picture: Caddisfly Species Brachycentrus appalachia (Apple Caddis).