Not much to report today. But I was pleased with these photos, so I thought I would post them. That's the flatheaded mayfly Epeorus pleuralis. It's very common at this time of year in cold water streams -- like the Rapidan River. Fly fisherman, if you're headed that way, take some Quill Gordon imitations. These nymphs are on the bottoms of rocks, and they're numerous. Should be hatching now anytime.
E. pleuralis on the bottoms of rocks, and Isoperla montanas crawling around in the leafpacks. Must be March! Isoperla montana is part of the "Isoperla kirchneri complex" -- see the entry posted last year on 9/3 -- and it's the most common Perlodid stonefly that I run into: March to mid-April. While I've never fished the Rapidan River, there must be a prolific hatch of "Yellow Sallies" up here, and it too will be happening soon.
I was really hoping to see a mature Isogenoides hansoni nymph, as I did in March, 2011,
but no luck today. I'll be back before the end of the month. It's one of the rare insects that we find in this stream, and I don't want to miss it.
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P.S. if you're editing photos with "Photos" on Macintosh, be sure to buy and install the extension "intensify." I use "Photos" to crop and straighten -- that's it. "Intensify" is the software to use.
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