As you will gather from this, entomology ain't one of my strong subjects, so can anyone give me any tips for telling the difference between the above? I was fishing at Seighford Lakes yesterday and there were loads of them around the pool margins, also a lot round Aqualate Mere which is a big wildlife reserve near me where I was out walking today. I am pretty sure they are Alders as the wings are more "hard and shiny" than a sedge wing and also these were around lakes rather than rivers, but I know it is also the time when Grannoms are about, so is there an easy way of telling the difference, since they look very similar?

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Here you go

Alder


Grannom


P

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Trout fishermen revere the trout; trout, on the other hand, unaware of their sublime standing in man's world, revere nothing, including man, a creature they seem to view with special contempt. Nihilism is a rare trait in fish but trout are full of it. The old men liked that.

good pics!! alder fly has the same shape to a sedge but with the appearance of a stone fly- so yoiur not far off when you say hard winged, as this is how stone flies are classified. sedges are much softer in appearance, have slight hairs on the wings.

Thats definitely an Alder fly Jeff. Plus thenfact that a Stonefly has wings that lie flat over it's back. Not roof like as on a Sedge.

Caddisman

Thanks chaps, yep, thats confirmed it for me, definitely alder flys. I just don't remember seeing quite so many of them before, maybe they're having a good year!

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Hi', Jeff. Alder fly is the only one of its type in the genus, sialidae. The larva lives in lakes/ponds, mainly, it pupates in damp ground, and crawls out on to your waders when you sit on the ground. They are the most obliging of insect subjects for close-up photography. Think, 'Shiny Sedge' Cheers TC

PS Distinctive feature of the fair-sized larvae, they have 'pointy bums'. I suppose you could say they look a bit like a mealworm -- just a bit.

Great Photo's ,enjoyed them

all best Hugh

TC and Caddi, I'm sure I've also read that adult alder flys are not taken that often by trout, maybe because they don't emerge in open water, more in the damp ground round the edges like you say TC? At seighford there were loads of adults blowing onto the water, scuttering across the surface etc, but I didn't see a single one taken by a fish. I guess the alder fly pattern is generally taken as an imitation of something else then, rather than an actual alder?

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