identify this bug

[jburge]

So I'm at one of my favorite canyon streams, and this is the second time I've seen lots of these guys flying around. You can see the size compared to my index finger, and the color is almost a translucent blue. Any ideas? I wish the macro were better, I didn't have time to get it set up correctly before he took off:





I also brought my strainer along and found this guy while filtering through some rocks and gravel. My books tell me this is a stonefly nymph, right?



Notice his buddy to the right:



Looking for freedom:

[WT]

The first bug looks like some sort of Midge, and on the second bug you are correct it is a stonefly.... golden stonefly to be exact

[jburge]

Thanks, WT. From everything I've found so far (which isn't exhaustive), I thought the little bugger was a midge. And there were stonefly nymphs everywhere. Makes me want to spend a couple of days just catching bugs and taking pictures.

[jbird]

those things are really abundant in the fall in southern oregon. On warm afternoons, theres clouds of them. They arent waterborne. they are thick everywhere, from down town, to my neighborhood, to the river. When you see them with the sun behind them, they look white, like snow suspended in the air. I dont know what they are but I call them white gnats. I have never heard of trout keying on them.
Jay

[Tracy Chimenti]

I think the little bugger is a syrphid-- a small bee/wasp guy. A beneficial bug. They eat, kill, and/or parasitize scale, aphids, and other undesireable garden and farm pests. They also assist in pollination and since the honey bees are on the decline, we need to take care of them, so plant some native flowering plants! I hope you didn't hurt the little guy. We could lose the whole cherry crop!!

[Kevin Goding]

Hmm, the first insect does look like some kind of midge. Not very familiar with the adults, if it was a larva and aquatic could definitely tell you more. The second is definitely a stonefly as mentioned by someone above. From the photo I'm guessing the genus [ICalineuria[/I], but there are a few others in CA depending on what stream you are in, and you'd need a microscope to tell.

Syrphid flies are "hover" flies, but are beneficial as their larva are voracious aphid predators. There are some midges that do the same as well though, and in a somewhat interesting manner. They tend to paralyze the aphids and eat them at their leisure, where as the syrphids just crawl around and eat them alive.

[jburge]

Funny you should mention aphids. To this day, uh, um, er, 35 years after graduating high school, I still remember the aphid-eating ladybugs video we watched in science class. With dubbed in crunching sound effects, it was mesmerizing.

I had the privilege today of being on the American when there was a huge mayfly hatch. Literally thousands of these guys floating by while I froze my *** in the fog and cold water:





The most frustrating thing for me was watching all these flies float by and not see a single rise or sip. Oh well, I got the super macro on the camera to work with cold fingers.

And Tracy, no worries. Just after I snapped the picture of the little midge, he took off

jb

[Terry Thomas]

JB,
By midge I guess you mean "little." The American has some pretty good hatches of Baetis (BWO) in the winter.

[jburge]

Terry, Yeah, I was referring to the little translucent blue guy in the first photo at the top of the thread. Tracy wanted to make sure he was free to do some more pollination

jb

[WT]

jburge next time you see a hatch like that try tying on an emerging bwo. often times when you do not see sips on the surface it means the fish might be keying in on the emergers