Fly ID - The real ones!

[Guest]

Used to have 57% for wart remover, etc but they don’t sell it anymore in drugstores seems like.  Too much trouble for casual use.  Amazon?  Local funeral home😳.  Do a search you get lotta test kits for it in plywood etc.   FEMA trailer fiasco...

[rockworm 0]

4 hours ago, mikechell said:

I'm pretty sure "wood" alcohol (Methanol) or isopropyl is better for preservation purposes.  I suppose Ethanol might work, just never heard of anyone using it.

I used to preserve nymphs and larvae in an ethanol/glycerine mix. Methanol causes the tissue to become brittle resulting in fragmentation of your specimen. It is also rather toxic and, I believe, absorbed through the skin. Isopropanol can be used, but takes longer to penetrate into your sample. Best results are obtained by dehydrating the tissue slowly- passing your insects through a series of increasing concentration (ie 10% for 4 hour, 20% for 4 hours, 40% , and so on.) This is more important for the larger, softer specimens.

[Moshup 0]

9 hours ago, Espo66 said:

Its a 1 dram vial that is 45mm tall. I hear you about the camera, I have a nice one, but not lugging that in the stream. My cell phone is work issued, not sure if it has a macro mode, I'll have to check.

The collecting thing is kind of fun and thought it may prove useful in tying, or maybe I've been watching my wife play animal crossing to much.

 

Started a journal with your other suggestions, saw that in a book. 

Keep doing what you’re doing !  That’s how Art Flix got started !

 

 

[niveker 0]

Agree with the ID's given above.  As for #1, since its too blurry to even make out the color, could be a blue wing olive, as they are that tiny, and in spite of their name have a great range of colors from light to dark even on the same river, at least here in New England.  

For reference, here is a sulfur (as opposed to a yellow stone) I snatched out of the air while fishing last Sat. morn, size 14/16.  There is always a light hatch of these guys on the river I fish, but I can't seem to get the fish to take any of the dry imitations I throw at them.  

I don't collect samples anymore while I'm fishing, usually just snap a photo of the bug on my hand/finger for size reference.  

 

[flykid 0]

Cool that you're collecting some specimens! Pictures are great too but I am also a fan of collecting specimens as a biologist. There are certain details that you just don't get with pictures. As for ID, the only one I'm very confident about is the last two pictures of the black insect. From what I can see, that appears to be a water strider. Very common in rivers, lakes, etc. As the name implies, they are aquatic. Not sure if they are a regular part of a fishes' diet or not.

[Espo66 0]

11 hours ago, Mogup said:

 

 

LOL, had to google Art Flick. 

[Espo66 0]

6 hours ago, niveker said:

Agree with the ID's given above.  As for #1, since its too blurry to even make out the color, could be a blue wing olive, as they are that tiny, and in spite of their name have a great range of colors from light to dark even on the same river, at least here in New England.  

For reference, here is a sulfur (as opposed to a yellow stone) I snatched out of the air while fishing last Sat. morn, size 14/16.  There is always a light hatch of these guys on the river I fish, but I can't seem to get the fish to take any of the dry imitations I throw at them.  

I don't collect samples anymore while I'm fishing, usually just snap a photo of the bug on my hand/finger for size reference.  

 

I took the picture on my way to work and didn't realize how crappy it came out until I got there and uploaded the pictures to email. I will try to snap another, thanks for the info!

[Espo66 0]

Thanks FlyKid, I'm pretty sure you are correct based on what I see on the web, no that you have named it.

[Espo66 0]

21 hours ago, Philly said:

The first one is a light blur.  If it's tiny, probably not a Cahill.  They're usually Size 14.  Could be a Little Sulphur,  they're size 18.  I've seen small white mayflies that are about a size 20.  Never been able to properly ID them, flunked Latin in high school.   If the yellow stonefly is huge, then it's not a Yellow Sally, otherwise known as the Little Yellow Stone fly,  The ones I've run into in South Central Vermont were somewhere between a size 12 and size 14.  If you measured them they're 10 mm long, that includes body and wing.  Keep that in mind when you're choosing a hook to tie a pattern on.   I don't know what the last one is.  Could be a land insect or some type of water bug.  While looking to see what it was I came  upon this web https://www.macroinvertebrates.org/.  It's an on line macroinvertebrate encyclopedia.  Might be useful for identifying nymphs once you start collecting them.  I never really collected stream bugs.  I always carried a small plastic container with me, in case any bugs landed on me.  I just took them home, examined them,  took measurements, wrote notes on color, etc.   That's how I found out if a book tells you a bug is a size 16, you probably don't want to tie it on a size 16 hook, particularly caddis and stoneflies. 

That is a cool site, thanks for the link and the hints. 

 

Funny story, I flunked Latin Freshman year in HS. Had to go to summer school, came back in the fall knowing all my "declentions" and was like a Latin wiz...blew my burnout friends minds! Darned if I can decipher any of it now.

[skeet3t 0]

22 hours ago, utyer said:

With a good camera that can take macro images, there is no need to collect and preserve the bugs at all.  Just take a good clear close up image or two.  If you have a small ruler, take measurements of the length of your finds,  Words like "huge" really don't help much in identifying things.  Take measurement, photos, and make notes as to where and when you find these samples.  Notes on water temperature and type would also help in identification.  

 

I  beg your pardon. "Huge" describes my fish.😁

[Moshup 0]

1 hour ago, Espo66 said:

 

LOL, had to google Art Flick. 

He was a pioneer and in many cases we stand on his shoulders.  A good guy to boot.  I met him when I

was just out of college.  Always happy to talk to someone young interested in the sport.

[chugbug27 0]

8 hours ago, niveker said:

There is always a light hatch of these guys on the river I fish, but I can't seem to get the fish to take any of the dry imitations I throw at them.

That's the kind of stuff that keeps me coming back for more. 

[redietz 0]

10 hours ago, niveker said:

 

For reference, here is a sulfur (as opposed to a yellow stone) I snatched out of the air while fishing last Sat. morn, size 14/16.  

I don't collect samples anymore while I'm fishing, usually just snap a photo of the bug on my hand/finger for size reference.  

 

Although I realize that "sulfur" means slightly different things in different parts of the country, that's not one that goes by that name anywhere that I know.  Although small, it's closer to a Light Cahill (two tails, mottled wings) than to a sulfur as the term is used in midatlantic region  (Emphe,eralla invaria and dorothea) which have three tails and solid colored wings.  (In the Catskills, they also call Epeorous vitreus a sulfur, and that only has tials, but it has clear wings even the dun.)

Not that the above matters, a Light Cahill dry in the proper size will suffice for any of them.

[niveker 0]

3 hours ago, redietz said:

Not that the above matters

Thank you for the correction, redietz. 

[Landon P 0]

Number 1 looks like a tiny tiny blue winged olive to me