Animal Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

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).

Several fast-swimming Siphlonurus nymphs blend in very well with the silt in this slow backwater along a trout stream.

In this picture: Mayfly Genus Siphlonurus (Gray Drakes).

This is a pretty clear photo of an Epeorus nymph clinging flat against a log. The big mound of debris on the bottom center of the picture, attached to the light rock, is a structure that's been puzzling me. I've found several in one section of the river. It's big, like 2 inches long and maybe 1/2-3/4 inch wide/tall, and hollow, like some sort of coccoon or something. It's clearly a structure built by some sort of little creature, but I'm not sure what.

In this picture: Mayfly Genus Epeorus (Little Maryatts).

The strange tubes all over this rock house tiny midge larvae.

In this picture: True Fly Family Chironomidae (Midges), Insect Order Ephemeroptera (Mayflies), and Insect Order Trichoptera (Caddisflies).