Hello all. Regarding sampling aquatic insects in our local streams, I was wondering how diverse the variety of insects are from season to season. What I mean is that if I were to enter the streamduring the winter months and seine up aquatic insects would I be likely to find the same sampling of insects during the spring or would possibly some major species of nymph be missing? I realize that some of the nymphs might be a bit larger in the spring but does anyone know if I would be missing any significant species of nymphs that may only be present during the spring or summer months?
What I'm getting at is that over the winter I was thinking of doing some stream samplings and then trying to tie up some flies to mimic those samplings. I would hate to tie up a number of nymphs only to find out that a major species has a very short lifespan and thus might only be present in nymph form during the spring or summer months. Again I am not talking about emerging or adult insects but only the nymph. I have purchased a few hatch books which make reference to different nymphs in a stream but have not found any reference on how long the nymph may reside in the stream before hatching. Any insight would be appreciated
What I'm getting at is that over the winter I was thinking of doing some stream samplings and then trying to tie up some flies to mimic those samplings. I would hate to tie up a number of nymphs only to find out that a major species has a very short lifespan and thus might only be present in nymph form during the spring or summer months. Again I am not talking about emerging or adult insects but only the nymph. I have purchased a few hatch books which make reference to different nymphs in a stream but have not found any reference on how long the nymph may reside in the stream before hatching. Any insight would be appreciated
