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The Specimen

Rhyacophila fuscula (Green Sedge) Caddisfly LarvaRhyacophila fuscula (Green Sedge) Caddisfly Larva View 11 PicturesI collected this larva and several like it from the same stream and on the same day as this pupa. I suspect they're the same species.
Collected June 5, 2005 from the Long Lake Branch of the White River in Wisconsin
Added to Troutnut.com by on May 25, 2006

The Discussion

Post Reply
LitobranchaSeptember 5th, 2006, 12:44 pm
Knoxville TN

Posts: 51		Looks like Rhyacophila fuscula. Wonderful bug.
JwatersphdJune 23rd, 2007, 6:35 pm
boulder colorado

Posts: 2		i am curious how to tell rhyacophila from macronema and whether it makes any difference either in terms of size or behavior. in schweibert's first volume from years ago they look very similar. i am awaiting his new two volume set but in the meantime would be curious i if anyone knows. there is definitely a green caddis that is quite prevalent on the gunnison in the black canyon and probably gorge below but i have not been especially successful at devising a good imitation. after looking at oliver edwards's video on czech nymphing, however, i am thinking the big problem is that i did not tie in such a method as to emphasize the heavily segmented body.
jwatersphd
TaxonJune 23rd, 2007, 10:32 pm
Site Editor
Royse City, TX

Posts: 1350		Dr. Waters-

Rhyacophila are in the family of free-living caddisflies (Rhyacophilidae), whose larvae are characterized by: only pronotum having a sclerotized plate, mesonotum and metanotum being entirely membranous; sclerotized plate on top of abdominal segment nine; anal prolegs long with large claws.

Macronema (now Macrostemum, at least for those species of interest to flyfishers) are in the family of common net-spinner caddisflies (Hydropsycidae), whose larvae are characterized by: sclerotized plates on notum of all three thoracic segments; anal prolegs terminating in a brush of long setae.

Incidentally, no Macrostemum species are known from Colorado.
Best regards,
Roger Rohrbeck
www.FlyfishingEntomology.com
Ov10facJuly 30th, 2019, 11:15 am
Posts: 2What is the approximate length and width of this fly. I used to fish something similar to this on the South Platte in Colorado. Seems the ones I fished were a little more brown.
TroutnutJuly 30th, 2019, 11:29 am
Administrator
Bellevue, WA

Posts: 2737		This one is over an inch long. The genus Rhyacophila is the largest (in number of species) genus of caddisflies, with several dozen different species in North America if I recall correctly. You very likely saw one of the other species of this genus on the South Platte.
Jason Neuswanger, Ph.D.
Troutnut and salmonid ecologist

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