Peekaboo Bug

 Hi again, I'm still on break, and still obsessing about finding bugs in the stream. We had a lot of rain last night, so the stream was gushing today–it actually shifted onto our walking path near one of the bridges and we had to re-engineer it back into its bed by removing some branches and leaves that were damming it up. The turbulence made it hard to see bugs during the day when it was light out, but once again I finished my walk after dark had fallen (I was out in the woods for a long time today), and one part of the stream that is wider and without rocks to create riffles was calm enough on the surface for me to be able to see underwater with my flashlight. I saw water beetles and two caddisfly larvae. It can be tricky to tell if you are seeing a caddisfly larva or just a bit of a stick or other debris on the bottom of the stream, except that caddisfly larvae move very differently than bits of debris carried by the current. Specifically, they can move against the current. If you see a twig crawling upstream, you've found a caddisfly larva. 

They still don't photograph well, though, with only a phone camera, but I did my best. 

Okay, I know what you're thinking: "THAT'S your best?" Well, no. But I will tell you that there are two caddisfly larvae in this picture. Also that though I did not capture these two to look at more closely like I did with the ones I found the other day, I think these might have cases made of a different material from those. They are a different color, and look more like they are made of sticks or rolled leaves instead of sand. Now, I did read somewhere that they start out with cases made of rolled leave and add the sand to the outside, so maybe these two will do that. I don't know. 

So, why am I showing you pictures that you can't even tell what's in them? Well, right in the middle of this one is a caddisfly larva. And in this one, the larva is poking its head and front legs out of its case. I think you can see that...

This may be the best I ever get of a shot with the head poking out, while underwater, so here it is. Notice that there is some sparkliness of sand in this part of the stream, so they could put sand on their cases if they wanted to (or rather, if that is what species they are). Mostly I am just glad that while crouching on the edge of the stream in the dark, cell phone in one hand, flashlight in the other, I didn't drop either one of those things in the stream, or fall in myself. Some days you just have to feel good about the small accomplishments.