The "rare" one: caddisfly larva, Pseudostenophylax sparsus

This is the second time I've found this species of caddisfly larva.  The first was 6 or 7 years ago at the "Patricia Byrom Nature Preserve" in the Blue Ridge in a very small, very clean stream at high elevation.  But, if you look back to the entry of 3/12/14 you'll see that my friend in Sugar Hollow, has found them in a  tiny spring seep on her land.  Right at the base of this pipe.

This "pool" is 1-2' feet square, and below this you won't see flowing water, just wet leaves and mud.  But that's where this species lives.  Steven Beaty, "The Trichoptera of North Carolina," p. 84: "Occurs in seeps and temporary streams.  A late winter-early spring species.  Rare."  It will hatch as a "Dark brown summer sedge" -- Thomas Ames, Caddisflies, p. 250-251 -- but no trout to eat them in this little pool!

There is only one species of Pseudostenophylax that lives in this part of the country -- P. sparsus.  Pseudostenophylax species are described this way by Wiggins: "...in all species mesonotal setal areas are confluent through sa1 to sa2 to sa3, and there is a transverse band of setae between the metanotal sa2 sclerites.  Sclerotized parts of the head and thorax are uniform reddish or yellowish brown, broken only by muscle scars.  Abdominal gills are single.  Length of larva up to 16mm.  Larval cases are contructed mainly of small rock fragments, the exterior uniform in outline.  Length of larval case up to 19mm."  (Glenn B. Wiggins, "Larvae of the North American Caddisfly Genera (Trichoptera, 1977, p. 278.

This larva was exactly 16mm; the case, 17-18mm.  For the continuity of the mesonotal setae, this is the best I could do yesterday.

Easy to see the transverse band between the sa2 sclerites on the metanotum.

Not much question about the color of the head.

And yes, the abdominal gills are single.

Beaty adds that the "head and thorax [are] uniformly orangish to yellowish brown with pale muscle scars."  Those pale scars show up nicely on this photo.

A "rare" one -- Pseudostenophylax sparsus.
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We also looked for nymphs and larvae in the small, pristine, stream that runs through her land, emptying below into the Moormans.  The leaf packs were LOADED with Peltoperlid (Roach-like stonefly) nymphs.  Other than that, we saw a number of spiny crawlers (probably Ephemerella invaria), and some nice Perlodid stoneflies -- Malirekus hastatis and Isoperla similis.  I took a few pics of the latter.

And on the rocks, as we would expect at this time of year, lots of flatheaded mayflies, Maccaffertium merririvulanum and Epeorus pleuralis, some of the latter already mature.

Good to get out at last.  The weather's improving -- very warm, actually -- so I'm looking forward to exploring the streams.
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A note on the photos.  I'm not happy with the quality of the photos I'm posting.  For years, I've used the "iPhoto" software on my Macintosh to edit my photos: it's fast, efficient, and does a pretty good job.  But, Apple has replaced iPhoto with "Photos," for editing pictures.  I don't like it at all!  If you add the extension "intensify" to Photos, the results are better.  I also have "Photoshop Elements 9," which I like.  Unfortunately, "Photoshop" does not work with Apple's new system software (OS 10.11.3, El capitan), an issue that to date, neither Adobe nor Apple seems moved to address (!).  So, bear with me as I struggle to re-learn how to do this.  Maybe with practice...
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And here the larva was just peeking out of its case.

Looking for insects in Costa Rica

Hmm…doesn't look like an aquatic insect???  No, no.  It's a beautiful Green iguana, male, in full mating colors.  It was a big one.  Measured 8-10' if we throw in the tail.  Another look -

Just gorgeous!

But I did find some aquatic insects.  We were in Tamarindo, Costa Rica last week -- before the BIG snow storm hit the East coast -- and one of our day trips was up in the mountains, visiting Rincon de la vieja National Park (Mt. Rincon is an active volcano).  And we did find some streams.  In fact, one was a nice cold water stream, but I didn't find anything in it.

In another small stream, one in which the water was quite a bit warmer, I had better luck.  Looking through leaf packs and at the bottoms of rocks, I found a number of caddisfly larvae.

Not a good photo, but the best I could do with my regular lens.  I was quite sure that it was a fingernet caddisfly larva (Philopotamidae), but I have no way to be sure, let alone talk about genus and species.  I didn't preserve it.  It was a "National Park," after all, and I wasn't sure if that was allowed, so I didn't have any sampling gear with me.  Alas.

I have no doubt that, at another time of year -- it's summer down there -- had I gone to the right parts of the country I'd have had a ball digging through streams, finding all sorts of different genera and species.  But we were on the west coast enjoying the beach and the tropical sunshine, so it was iguanas and Howler monkeys and mangrove birds that I pursued with my camera -- and telephoto lens.  Thought some of our readers might enjoy seeing some of my photos, so here we go.
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I. Iguanas

We saw both Green iguanas and Black or "Spiny Tail" iguanas, all of them at the resort where we stayed where they were left to run free.  We've seen one of the Green ones, and here are some pictures of one of the Blacks.

II. Shore Birds in the Mangroves

and some blue jays, which in Costa Rica are crested and have longer tails than those we see in Virginia.  One in the wild,

and one that was eyeing our breakfast!

III. Coati mundis  (pr. kwati mundi), related to raccoons

One was eating (used) toilet paper!

IV.  Howler monkeys

They woke us up in the morning and scampered around in the trees for the rest of the day.

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It was a wonderful trip, some place to visit if you get the chance.  But, if I can afford to go back, it's off to the mountains and streams, and I'll be toting my sampling equipment!

Back here -- it's time to get out to the streams.  I hope to be out there next week, but it will depend on the snow and the water levels after the melt.

Exploring new streams: small tributary of the Rapidan River

I'm determined this year to explore some new streams.  This morning, I decided to finally look at a small mountain stream that empties into the Rapidan River right at Graves Mill.  I headed upstream until I was pretty well into the mountains and found a good pull-off.  It was a small stream, and sure enough, I found a lot of small mountain stream insects.  Nothing new -- but I got some good pictures.

1. In the photo at the top of the page, a "roach-like stonefly," genus Tallaperla.  Lots and lots of them in the leaf packs and in packs of leaves and twigs mixed.  I keep hoping to find genus Viehoperla, but those nymphs have single thoracic gills: this one clearly had two.

2. A flatheaded mayfly, Maccaffertium merririvulanum.

Very clear on this nymph are the characteristic pale "V's" on terga 5 and 7-9.  Can also see one on segment 4.

3.  And a nice pic of the Ameletid mayfly, Ameletus cryptosimulus.

This species is not all that common.  Consequently, in North Carolina, no tolerance value has yet been assigned.  Again, characteristic markings show up very well on this nymph.  "Each abdominal tergum with two pairs of pale spots, one submedian pair and a pair anterolateral to those."  (Beaty, Walters, and Holland, "The Ephemeroptera of North Carolina, version 4.0" p. 1.)  Earlier, in version 3.3 of this guide, Beaty had noted that there are "submedian curved marks on tergite 7 followed by a median spot."

And then there are the caudal filaments (tails).  "Caudal filaments basally brown...with a dark brown medial band followed by a pale band and tipped finally with brown." (Beaty, Walters, and Holland.)

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Also saw lots of Perlodid stoneflies -- Malirekus hastatus and Diploperla duplicata.  On my list for next week, the Middle Fork, or the South Fork, of the Moormans.  Looking for some new Uenoids.

Oh -- an important note.  A revised version of "The Plecoptera of North Carolina" was posted on December 15.  Go to:  http://portal.ncdenr.org/web/wq/taxonmanual.

It's the "rapid" Rapidan at the moment -- but I got some nice photos

Actually, it was pretty scary up there this morning.  The water was very high and very fast (see the photo below), and I had to stay close to the shore to look through the leaf packs.  Lots of pronggilled mayflies now, and a smattering of small winter stoneflies.  But I did find some insects that made for very nice photos.

The first, a Lepidostomatid.  I didn't keep it, so I can't be sure of the genus ID -- but it's probably Lepidostoma.  In any event, I couldn't resist taking some shots of that beautiful case.

Excellent photos of the adults in Ames' Caddisflies: A Guide to Eastern Species for Anglers and Other Naturalists, pp. 186-189.  I take it these hatch as the "scaly brown sedge" in March and April.  But at time of year, anglers at the Rapidan will be focussing on prolific hatches of "yellow sallies."
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And the other treasure this morning -- the "golden stones," Agnetina capitata.   Since I reviewed the species identification of A. capitata in my entry of 9/7, I'll just point out the 1) setal row on the occiput, and 2) the presence of anal gills.

I found three nymphs in the leaf packs, and since I seem to find this species in a regular way at the Rapidan River, I'm starting to wonder just how "rare" it is.  Beaty's comment: "Listed by NC Natural Heritage Program as Significantly Rare (2010)."  ("The Plecoptera of North Carolina," p. 15).

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The sunlight was great, but the water...roaring!

Surpise, surprise! Paragnetina fumosa at Buck Mt. Creek

And a very pleasant suprise.

I went to Buck Mt. Creek this morning with low expectations.  I was pretty sure that I'd see small winter stoneflies -- and I did.  I was hoping to see the common stonefly Acroneuria lycorias since this is the only place that I've seen it.  No luck with that species, but I still made out very well.

It's the common stonefly, Paragnetina fumosa.  This is only the second nymph that I've found.  The other was also at Buck Mt. Creek, on April 17, 2013 (see the entry posted that day).  That nymph was a bit more mature, but not a heck of a lot.  Still, the diagnostic features -- see below -- are more readily seen.

For the identification, I turn to Steven Beaty's "The Plecoptera of North Carolina," p. 18.  "P. fumosa -- nymphs ?? mm; frons with a pair of yellow spots lateral to the median ocellar spot, median ocellar spot often congruous with pale yellow transverse band near labrum; thoracic nota with complex and extensive pattern of yellow markings; yellow femora with one sometimes two distinctive dark brown transverse bands; abdominal terga 3-4, 5 with a pair of pale markings and 8 and 9 mostly pale; anal gills present or absent.  Common and widespread."

Let's have a look.  On this close up of the head, we can see 1) the "yellow spots lateral to the median ocellar spot," 2) how the median ocellar spot is nearly congruous with the yellow band near the labrum, 3) and the row of spinules on the occiput, typical of the genus.

For the abdomen --

easy to see the paired pale markings on terga 3-5.  We can almost see that the anal gills are absent (were it not for the silt on the nymph!), and we can see the transverse band (bands?) on the femora.

Paragnetina fumosa.  Sweet!

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The small winter stoneflies were numerous -- 3-4 in every leaf pack that I picked up.  Still immature, but the wing pads are fully developed.  Most likely, Allocapnia pygmaea which is the most common species we see.

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Our streams are finally dropping, but as you can see, the leaf packs are still pretty muddy from the high, fast conditions we've had of late.  Still, we should be able to start looking again.
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Note:  On reflection, I think I misidentified the "transverse bands" on the femora.  On this nymph, I see one "full" and one "partial" transverse band on the femora.