Troutnut.com User Arellamana

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).

Here's the head of a sea lamprey which migrated up the Delaware River to spawn.

These are glossosomatids, Jason. They are probably Glossosoma nigrior, though it is possible that we are looking at mixed species. The ones to the right with their aggregate of similar sized grains are classic Glossosoma, while the ones to the left with the large anchor pebbles could possibly be Agapetus. Regardless, they're all commonly referred to as saddle case makers.

In this picture: Caddisfly Family Glossosomatidae (Saddle-case Makers).

This is a close-up underwater view of a stillborn (

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This stillborn Ephemerella subvaria dun is trapped in its shuck.

Stillborn: In fly fishing, a stillborn insect is one which got stuck in its nymphal or pupal shuck during emergence and floats helplessly on the surface instead of flying away. It is a specific class of cripple, although it is sometimes used interchangeably with that term.) Ephemerella subvaria (Henrickson) female dun.

In this picture: Mayfly Species Ephemerella subvaria (Hendrickson).

The white blotches on this rock are Leucotrichia caddisfly cases, and the wispy tubes are cases made by a type of midge.

In this picture: Mayfly Species Ephemerella invaria (Sulphur Dun), Caddisfly Species Leucotrichia pictipes (Ring Horn Microcaddis), and True Fly Family Chironomidae (Midges).

Three big Ephemerella subvaria mayfly nymphs share a rock with some cased caddis larvae.

In this picture: Mayfly Species Ephemerella subvaria (Hendrickson) and Saddle-case Maker Genus Glossosoma (Little Brown Short-horned Sedges).