What is flyfishing entomology? Why was this site developed? Who uses it? Who developed it? How much information does it contain? How many visitors does it get? What if I have questions? What is taxonomic structure? What is the source for the WA stream-resident aquatic macro-invertebrates? What is the source for the WA aquatic insect emergence chart? What are the recommended websites? What are the recommended books? What are taxonomic updates? What is the consolidated illustration index? What is adult mayfly identification?

What is flyfishing entomology? Entomology is the study of insects.  Aquatic insects spend their larval existence on or under water, where they are the major food source for fish.  Understanding aquatic insects, and employing artificial flies to imitate them, are several of the many challenges of flyfishing.

Why was this site developed? FlyfishingEntomology.com was developed to share my interest in aquatic insects (and other freshwater organisms) with other flyfishers.

Who uses it? Those interested in flyfishing entomology will discover this site contains a digest of information not centrally available anywhere else on the internet.

Who developed it? This site was developed by Roger Rohrbeck, a fly fisher from the state of Washington, USA.  Following a lengthy career in information technology, retirement provided the opportunity to pursue a long-held interest in flyfishing entomology.

How much information does it contain? This site contains more than (200) pages of highly structured information with more than (80) illustrations and more than (3,200) internal links to facilitate access.  In addition, multiple databases provide query capability.  The most effective way to appreciate the breadth and depth of this coverage is to view the Site Map by clicking here.

How many visitors does it get? From November 14, 2004 through July 31, 2010, this site has hosted (166,911) visits from the following (125) countries, which represent all six inhabited continents: Afghanistan, Andorra, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Bosnia, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, China, Cocos Islands, Columbia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, French Polynesia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kazakhstan, Korea (N), Korea (S), Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Lithuania, Macau, Macedonia, Malaysia, Maldives, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Morocco, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Niue, Northern Mariana Islands, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, Russian Federation, Saint Lucia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia and Mongolia, Seychelles, Singapore, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turks and Caicos Islands, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Yemen, Yugoslavia, Zimbabwe.

What if I have questions? Your questions or observations are highly encouraged, and will receive prompt, respectful, and (hopefully) enlightened response. FlyfishingEntomology@comcast.net.

What is taxonomic structure? Taxonomic structure is the scheme of hierarchical classification used by zoological classification experts (taxonomists) to describe living things.  It customarily starts with kingdom and works its way down to species. On this site, the hierarchy has been portrayed with the highest displayed hierarchical level in the leftmost column, and with lower levels in columns to the right.  As a practical matter, this has necessitated breaking the structure into numerous pages, which are linked from senior to junior page.  can be used to retreat back up the hierarchy.  Access the taxonomic structure by clicking here.

What is the source for WA stream-resident aquatic macro-invertebrates? The State of Washington Department of Ecology has sampled stream-resident benthic macro-invertebrates for over ten years as a component of their response to the Federal Clean Water Act.  Detailed information concerning these samples is contained in an (annually updated) MS Access database, which is made available to the public via download. The WA stream-resident aquatic macro-invertebrates page on this site is a summarization of detail contained in that database, supplemented with the common name provided for each taxon at family level or above, and listed in sequence of common name.  Access the macro-invertebrate list by clicking here.

What is the source for the WA aquatic insect emergence chart? The emergence chart was assembled based on information contained in the WA Dept. of Ecology's ECY database, Xerces Society's Stream Bugs As Biomonitors CD, numerous web-based WA hatch charts, Western Hatches by Hafele & Hughes, Western Mayfly Hatches by Hafele & Hughes, and Hatch Guide for Western Streams by Jim Schollmeyer.  Access the emergence chart by clicking here.

What are the recommended websites? The first folder, Reciprocal Links, contains a list of websites having links to this site.  They are listed in alphabetic order, except for the top three generators of traffic to this site. The second and third folders, Flyfishing Forums, and Entomology Forums, contain links to forums where my observations can be found posted under the screen name of Taxon. Each of the remaining folders contains a list of websites found to contain useful information on the folder topic. Access links by clicking here.

What are the recommended books? They constitute my personal library of flyfishing entomology books.  The book cover image is simply intended to assist in recognition.  Access them by clicking here.

What are taxonomic updates? Many of my flyfishing entomology reference books were published at least 20 years ago, and some much longer.  Although these books remain rich sources of information, many taxonomic re-classifications have taken place in the intervening years. Initially, I printed a chart of taxonomic updates for each book, and taped it to the inside of the back cover.  My taxonomic update pages for these books are intended to provide my website visitors with that same information. Here are links to the taxonomic updates: Aquatic Insects of California edited by Robert L. Usinger Caddisflies by LaFontaine by Gary LaFontaine Hatches II by Al Caucci & Bob Nastasi Mayflies, An Angler’s Study of Trout Water Ephemeroptera by Malcolm Knopp and Robert Cormier Mayflies of Michigan Trout Streams by Justin W. Leonard and Fannie A. Leonard Mayflies the Angler and the Trout by Fred L. Arbona, Jr. Nymphs by Ernest Schwiebert Selective Trout by Doug Swisher and Carl Richards The Caddisfly Handbook by Dick Pobst and Carl Richards The Hatches Made Simple by Charles A. Meck The Mayflies Of Florida by Lewis Berner and Manual L. Pescador

What is the consolidated illustration index? Illustrations of various aquatic insects (and other macroinvertebrates) are contained within the books in my library.  Most of these books don't contain an index of their illustrations. The consolidated illustration index is simply an attempt to bring order and efficiency to the process of searching for insect illustrations.  If you don't have ready access to the actual reference book, this index may be of limited value.   However, at least you'll know which book contains the desired illustrations when you visit a flyshop, bookstore, or library.   Access the consolidated illustration index by clicking here, or the database query by clicking here.

What is adult mayfly identification? Entomology texts traditionally rely on a long series of couplets (either this or that) to identify organisms.  Frequently, one is unable to successfully navigate these couplets.  This may be because one has only a photo of the insect, and the feature in question cannot be seen in the photo; or because dissection and/or a microscope are required, and one doesn't have that equipment or those skills. So, to assist the average fly fisher in identifying adult mayflies, another approach was tried.  It seemed there were sufficient readily observable adult mayfly attributes, that it might be possible to simply describe what one could observe, and (at least) narrow down the possibilities. Although the page continues to evolve, I am pleased with the initial results. However the best judge of that is you, so you might want to give Adult Mayfly Identification a try by clicking here. Given the success of using this approach for identification of adult mayflies, I have also applied this technique to identification of adult caddisflies and stoneflies. To access Adult Caddisfly Identification, click here. To access Adult Stonefly Identification, click here. Once you have tried one of them, if you want to do me a real favor, please send email to let me know how it worked (or didn't work) for you.  Sincerely, Roger Rohrbeck FlyfishingEntomology@comcast.net.

Created: 10/22/2004   Last modified: 08/03/2010    www.FlyfishingEntomology.com