MOLDY CHUM

Tis the season

I thought the mole was sorta sexy.

Eclosion: The emergence of an adult insect from its pupal case

This is Fly

Love is the bug I'm thinking of.......

The Caddiscanoodler

The Damseldoesdallas

Dave's Hopperdiggitydog

 

Daily Haiku

a mayfly
struggles down the stream
one wing flapping dry

Via Mann Library's Daily Haiku LINK

Grasshopper Fornication

Chum sipper, Jeffrey Dickman, sent us a shot that proves his hopper imitation is indeed accurate.

La Crosse is the epicenter of the mayfly population in the world

National Geographic is filming Mayflies hatching as part of a future film on migration.

Via: The LaCrosse Tribune LINK

Previously on MC - Our favorite mayfly documentary

Biological Indicators of Watershed Health

Trichoptera, or caddisflies, comprise the most diverse insect order whose members are exclusively aquatic.

Via:Tree of Life LINK

Romeo and Juliet of the insect world

So today I grieve for the Mayfly that landed on my shoulder on Tuesday. Although I placed it very carefully on the leaves of the clematis by our front door, it made no attempt to fly away and its chances of finding romance were, I am sad to report, zero. Via: Countryside News for the York  LINK

They're Heeeerrrreee - Almost

The Yakima's first wave of real adult entertainment is just around the corner.  And, his excellency - Mr. Skwala was kind enough to pose for Chum reader Jim Olsen.

We gave her a go on Sunday and got our nymph on.  The prize to our surprise was a Winston Vapor 590 - 6x shuffle down the Yakima - hot in pursuit of some rare Yak Steel (one of 200 or so lucky enough to make it back to our backyard blue ribbon trout stream).

 

Mayflies of the Driftless Region

Prints are approximately six times the size of the actual insect. LINK

Biological Indicators of Watershed Health

EPA photographs of various invertebrates you all know and love.

LINK

This Is Fly

The Damsel Chopper

The Curse of A-Rod

The Bronx Bombers were done in by a large midge hatch last night in Cleveland.

Red Sox nation shouts,"we got your curse right here!"  LINK

Robo Flies

Via: Gizmodo  LINK

From David James Duncan's, "Not Rocking the Boats", a short story that appeared in River Teeth.

What I have against you, Mister River Jim Burnett's Riverfuckin Wetdreams, is that this time next year you'll be hypin' some new IBM microelectronic Pteronarcys or Acroneuria you operate with a toggle switch on the butt of some nine-thousand-dollar Jedi Jim Zukonite Fly Rod that sends electrolytic impulses down the line to the fly, causin' it to go through every life-stage of the bonafide insect, includin' screwin' an' dyin'! 

Caddis Case Jewelry - The Video

A video follow up to this post we did back in February.

Providing bits of precious and semi-precious material for Caddis to construct jewelry is actually not all that unique. Caddisfly case jewelry is available at the Classic Fly Fisherman and Wildscape.

Bugs of the Underworld

11 years, 8 cameras, 3 countries, countless breaths underwater.  LINK

They are more properly referred to as May flies

LINK

That's Amore!

When you cast big ole dries and you won't switch up flies, that's amore! 

Submitted by Jim Olsen, Chum smoocher and one hell of a photographer.

Ask an Entomologist

Via: Bugs for Thugs  LINK

World's Largest Fly Collection

LINK FIXED!

Via Spluch  LINK

By now you know this is a big Cicada year

Flies need love too

Two Flies Making Love - Watch the best video clips here

Mayfly Hatch

Baltic Amber with Caddis Inclusion

This Caddis trapped in amber dates back to the Eocene Epoch making it somewhere between 33 and 54 million years old. LINK

Disection of a Mayfly Nymph

In the actual insect, the area shown here is about 8mm in length. LINK

Stoneflies of the United States

VIA USGS LINK

The Insectarium of the Micropolitan Museum

The top and bottom larva are Chironomids, the larva in the center is Chaoborus, the 'phantom midge'.  LINK

Unmatching the Hatch

Kudos to Marshall at Midcurrent for unearthing this piece on "going against the grain". LINK

Designer Jewelry with Insect Larvae

French artist Hubert Duprat has developed a method of getting Caddis larvae to use bits of gold, pearls and saphires to construct their protective cases. LINK

Pat's Bug Aquarium

On his site Nova Scotia Fly Fishing, Pat Donoghue tells you everything you need to know about setting up your very own home entomology lab. LINK

Bug Vid

Bug Resource

...for those that really want to geek out on bugs.  Via Iowa State Entomology LINK

Embrace Life Like the Mayfly

The Mayfly has a lifespan of two hours

LINK

The Almost Official Mayfly Page

If you can get official about Mayflies.  LINK

Mayflies force bridge closing

Kittanning Hose Co. 1 Fire Chief Gene Stephens said Monday night, "We shut the bridge down before we had any accidents. Earlier this month, we had three motorcyclists go down as a result of the mayflies."   LINK

Welcome to Mayfly Central

Mayfly Central is a place, a program, and an information resource. It is located in the Department of Entomology at Purdue University, where it is associated with the Laboratory of Aquatic Entomology.  LINK

Cue the new age music

 

Thigh-deep in the swift water, he whips his shimmering line in slow graceful curves. His lure (a finely tied bit of deer hair, filament and hook) skips and dances on the surface of the water -- both lure and motion intended to mimic the very insects that dance in the sunlight.  VIA The Pilot  LINK

The mayfly doth protest too much, me thinks

This year, the Great River Shakespeare Festival’s season opener coincided with a mayfly hatch.  LINK

A BIG mayfly hatch!

The weather service says some roads along the river and around La Crosse were covered with bugs, which piled into drifts in some places. LINK

It's rare but not unusual for mayfly hatches to appear on radar.

July of 2003.  LINK

A sequence from July of 2001.  LINK

It's that Shaquille O'Neal of mayflies, that Andre the Giant of Ephemerids, that behemoth of bugs, the Hexagenia limbata, which is starting to make its annual appearance on streams.  LINK

The project will be a CG-animated children's movie focusing on the short-lived insects, some of whom live only for a day.  LINK

Increase Your Insect I.Q.

Yesterday's report, what worked last season and the local killer fly. All great pieces of information, but you need one more piece to complete the picture: knowledge of insects active in the water right then, right there.  LINK

Transformation of a Salmon Fly

Coming soon to a river near you?

VIA Westfly  LINK

The Chironomid Community

You thought some fisherman were obsessed with Chironomidae?

Welcome to the Chironomid Home Page
LINK

The XVI International Symposium on Chironomidae
Funchal, Madeira 2006
LINK

The usual suspects
LINK