What is this bug?

The purpose of this forum is to help people identify things they've seen while out hiking: wildflowers, trees, birds, insects, small animals, animal tracks, even geographical features like buttes or streams
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potato
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What is this bug?

Post by potato » May 21st, 2012, 11:27 pm

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?
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payslee

Re: What is this bug?

Post by payslee » May 22nd, 2012, 7:56 am


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potato
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Re: What is this bug?

Post by potato » May 22nd, 2012, 8:29 am

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
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percival baxter
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Re: What is this bug?

Post by percival baxter » June 10th, 2012, 10:28 pm

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

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potato
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Re: What is this bug?

Post by potato » June 10th, 2012, 11:04 pm

Cool, thanks for the reply :)
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