Monday, June 20, 2016

Sticking to photos today: got some good ones at the Rapidan River


I don't normally take photos of this one since I took a lot of them early on.  But, what a chubby!  I used to work with a gal who called this larva "Michelin man" -- seems pretty fitting.  Caddisfly larva, Rhyacophila fuscula.   I'm seeing a lot of big ones at the moment.




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And I believe I mentioned last time that I find quite a few Paragnetina immarginata at the Rapidan River.  One of my photos is great for species ID.  I'll add it later on if I can get this damn Photos software to work!  (Hope my computer isn't on its last legs.)






Made the mistake of putting two in my tray at once, and I couldn't keep them apart.
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And I found another Rhithrogena.   This one was fully mature and given the spreading, rising wing pads,  I'm pretty sure it was in the process of hatching.


You'll recall that we first saw this nymph at the Rapidan on May 25.  At the moment, Rhithrogena sp., possibly R. manifesta.

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Also found a few little Perlesta.  I'll do some microscope work on this one and see how it compares to the nymphs I've found in other streams.





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I'll edit this entry if I mange to annotate the picture I mentioned, pointing out the key features for species ID for Paragnetina immarginata.
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Here we go.  Beaty, "The Plecoptera of North Carolina," p. 18.  "head M-pattern with medial pale line extended anteriorly, often connected to pale frontoclypeal margin; yellow femora distinctively patterned with dark brown longitudinal bar extending about 2-3 the length; abdominal terga banded, anterior half dark; anal gills absent."




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