Show Notes
Hi Folks, Here are some pics and patterns for this episode on the Zebra Caddis. Let's start with some of those figures I was talking about in the episode. This is a picture of the typically dish shaped head of the zebra caddis larva. This is from Wiggins, Larvae of the North American Caddisfly Genera (Trichoptera). Note it lists the old name for the genus - Macronema.
Next, from the same source is a cutaway picture of the case - showing the two chambers and the net used to trap food.
Lastly, here is a figure from an article (McArthur 2000) showing the variations in how the case is built for Macrostenum carolina.
OK, let's then talk about the adults. Here is a nice picture of a zebra caddis adult:
And another - this one was actually taken on a wall on the St. Croix River next to the lights near a dam:
In contrast - this is what an alderfly looks like - Zebra Caddis - especially in New England are often called Alder Flies - this this alderfly is in order Megaloptera - related to the fishflies and the dobsonflies:
OK, so how are you going to imitate these guys? For the larvae - I would look at the green rockworm blog - any of those flies would work fine for these. For the pupa - here is Thomas Ames Jr.'s Sens Pupa from his fantastic book, Caddisflies. I made some modifications, so here is my version of it: Body: Olive antron dubbing Wing: Mallard Quill Hackle - soft rooster - I've tied it beard style Head - black dubbing and a bead
One of my favorite overall caddisfly adult imitations is the Goddard Caddis - I love it, in part because it floats like a cork. Originally it was simply natural deer hair with a brown rooster hackle and stripped quill antennae. I simply changed the deer hair to give it the striped pattern and lost the antennae.
Here is an E-12 or Europea 12 where I substituted the mallard breast wings with woodcock:
Body: Brown dubbing Rib: Yellow Thread Wing: Woodcock Head/Thread: Yellow
And here is Chappy's Zebra Caddis: Body: Peacock Herl Wing: Snowshoe Hair, banded with brown marker (natural or orange) Hackle: Grizzly or Brown Lastly, for imitating the female zebra caddis after she has laid her eggs, here is the alder fly:
Which is a simple enough fly: Tag: Gold Tinsel Body: Peacock Herl Wings: Mottled Turkey Beard: Black Hen There you go, I hope you enjoyed the episode.
More from Angler's Entomology Podcast
A discussion of metamorphosis - focusing on simple metamorphosis as it relates to mayflies, stoneflies, and damsel and dragonflies. And of course rambles about the nature of change. I hope you enjoy.
Hey Everyone, Here are the pictures and patterns that are relevant to Part 1 on of metamorphosis - focusing in incomplete metamorphosis and the critters that do that. (Primarily mayflies, stoneflies and dragon and damselflies). First, though, as promised in the podcast, here is what a silverfish looks like. A little worse for wear - he's (or she) has been pickled for 8 years, so it's lost a lot of its color. Normally, they are a very silver color - hence the name. In some ways you may say this looks a little like a mayfly nymph. In real life, looking at them, you would not mistake them as being different.
Hey everyone. I hope you enjoy today's episode on black quills. I have some nice pics and patterns on the blog, so check that out too. Email me ([email protected]) if you want a guided entomology/fishing trip and get your loot at Selene's Fly Shop.
Hey everyone. Here is my blog post for Episode 54: Pics and Patterns for Black Quills. First let's take a look at the nymph. Here is a nice black quill nymph with a scale in centimeters. It is hard to see, but note the length of the antennae and the nice dark wing cases. That suggests he (or she) is likely to hatch soon. (Well, if he (or she) wasn't pickled in alcohol since 2003). Also fyi, this one was collected in a pond - which make sense, they migrate from moving water to still water to hatch. In contrast, the next specimen was collected in a stream, and you'll note the lack of developed wing pads (noting it was also collected earlier in the season).
Hey folks, hope you all enjoy part 2 of our discussion about how insects reproduce. Lots of wild stuff in this. And check out the blog - I added lots of cool pictures that are relevant to both episode 51 and 53. Enjoy!