Page 1 of 1

What is this bug?

Posted: May 21st, 2012, 11:27 pm
by potato
Can anyone identify this bug?
I'd guess it was 1.5 -1.75 inches long.

Image

Image

Also, any suggestions for tools I could use to identify it myself?

Re: What is this bug?

Posted: May 22nd, 2012, 7:56 am
by payslee

Re: What is this bug?

Posted: May 22nd, 2012, 8:29 am
by potato
That was my best guess as well...

http://bugguide.net/node/view/483122/bgimage

Apparently they are intolerant of water pollution, and their presence indicates good or excellent water quality. Found this guy right by Tanner Creek. I guess that's not a big surprise

Re: What is this bug?

Posted: June 10th, 2012, 10:28 pm
by percival baxter
Nice photos.

You were both right. That bug is in the order Plecoptera. Identifying your stonefly to family requires very close examination of the structure of the veins in both sets of wings.

If you look really closely next time you are out near a cold high gradient streams you should be able to see the 'larval' version of the stonefly, called a nymph, fanning their gills while crawling along the bottom or clinging to rocks. They are quite small, but once you locate one you should see hundred if not thousands more nearby. You will likely see more mayfly nymphs than stoneflies, since mayflies are generally more abundant in our area.

http://bcadventure.com/adventure/anglin ... efly.phtml

Re: What is this bug?

Posted: June 10th, 2012, 11:04 pm
by potato
Cool, thanks for the reply :)