Trout Streams

>

Wisconsin

> The Namekagon River

I spotted this very large leech freely tumbling, and occasionally stopping, along the bottom of a clear, cool trout stream. I paid careful attention later and spotted two more like it, but this one was the largest -- probably over 7 inches stretched out.

There is one other picture of it.

In this picture: Animal Class Clitellata-Hirudinae (Leeches).

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).