Simuliidae (Black Flies) True Fly Larva Pictures
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
» Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
» Class Insecta (Insects)
» Order Diptera (True Flies)
» Family Simuliidae (Black Flies)
This true fly was collected from the northeastern United States on March 30th, 2007 and added to Troutnut.com on April 2nd, 2007.
View Full Size
I strangely enhanced the colors in this picture to highlight the silk thread from which this larva is dangling. It attached the line to the little tweezers I used to pick it up, and when I lowered it into my little photo tank it was suspended by the line for a while. I believe some authors have mentioned imitating this line when fishing Simuliidae imitations, but that seems kind of silly given the diameter involved, probably something like a 30X tippet.
CameraCanon EOS 20D
Recent Discussions of this Larva
Black flies--bane and boon
Posted by GONZO on Apr 4, 2007
Although many anglers have been driven from the stream by these nasty little flies, the fish love them. I remember a crazy day on a tiny Pike County brook trout creek. The black flies were legion, but so were the brookies. As long as I could stand it (I was prepared with a headnet, but it was only a partial defense) the little trout hammered a Griffith's Gnat on almost every cast.
Even if you can't tolerate the adult flies, an imitation of the larvae is very good. In fact, Don Holbrook (the author of Midge Magic) recently told me that his imitation of these larvae was the single most reliable and productive pattern of all of his "midge" imitations. He complained (only partly in jest) that the widespread spraying for black flies could ruin his fishing!
-Gonzo
ReplyEven if you can't tolerate the adult flies, an imitation of the larvae is very good. In fact, Don Holbrook (the author of Midge Magic) recently told me that his imitation of these larvae was the single most reliable and productive pattern of all of his "midge" imitations. He complained (only partly in jest) that the widespread spraying for black flies could ruin his fishing!
-Gonzo
New features!
