Nothing but photos today -- my analytical skills were put to the test yesterday! So just sit back and enjoy some beautiful photos of some beautiful insects from the Rapidan River -- taken on a beautiful fall day.
1. Spiny crawler mayfly, Ephemerella subvaria (the "Hendrickson" to fly fishermen) -- maybe the prettiest mayfly nymph that we see. One photo above, two more below. This is the only place where I find them.
2. Giant stonefly, Pteronarcys biloba. Getting bigger, heading for hatch time in March.
3. Green stonefly (Chloroperlid), genus Sweltsa.
4. Flatheaded mayfly, Maccaffertium pudicum, a species we see in good streams in the winter.
5. Large winter stonefly, Taeniopteryx burksi. This one was larger than those we've seen in Albemarle county -- 4 mm. And note that the characteristic light stripe that runs the length of the body, with dark stripes to either side, is starting to show. More colorful too.
6. Small winter stonefly. Judging by the shape of the pronotum and the tiny wing pads I'd say that this one was Allocapnia mystica (if my analysis yesterday was correct). Oh, female.
7. And a common netspinner, Ceratopsyche morosa, but the C. morosa "type" that we find in the Rapidan river -- only two lines in the rear angle of the frontoclypeus instead of the usual three (see the entry for 10/23). You can make out the "checkerboard" pattern on the head in the second photo.
The valley of the Rapidan River, roughly 5 miles from the entrance to the Shenandoah National Park.
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