#stonefly

Mermay day 6, felt like drawing taur versions of some of the animals I encountered today! Those being a brown trout and an unspecified species of stonefly. Living in an actively flowing body of water has its own unique problems, but also pros (including your floaty boat toy moving on its own).

I also drew the kids meeting as adults again, as well as how the stonefly overalls work — stonefly larvae gills are around their feet, so to breathe they need slits in the clothing to have access to water!

Northern Stone Agnetina capitata

A stonefly found in Canada and the United States.

Name: Dwayne

Skill: Quiet Retreat

Quote: "When things become too much and you feel that you need a break from it all, feel free to visit me. You will always be welcome."

Stonefly - Subfamily: Perlodinae

With special thanks to a dear friend of mine exploring the wilderness of Squamish, British Columbia, this video is the first (of hopefully many) of 2026. Keeping to their active season of early spring as also recorded in previous videos, the Stoneflies of Squamish have returned and this one is quite active! Although this individual appears to be on dry land, it isn't very far from a water source. Specifically, this insect was filmed near the Squamish River by Edgewater Park; a fine water source spend time developing as an aquatic nymph. According to my friend who recorded this video, the rocks filmed here are occasionally submerged completely by water which arrives in the form of rainfall and meltwater from on snow on B.C.'s mountains. If that's the case, this is the perfect environment for Stonefly nymphs to complete their metamorphosis into a winged adult. They would be able to cling onto these stones or nearby man-made structures when the water rises, and then emerge as it recedes and conditions become warmer and drier. My friend also noted that while the stone parts exposed to the sun were radiating heat, the water was freezing. While such temperatures would be harmful to most insects, Plecopterans can have adaptations against ice cold conditions such as chemicals within their hemolymph (blood) that act as an antifreeze, or even simple strategies such as insulating themselves from cold within riverbed materials. If successful and uneaten, the result is a fit adult Stonefly with energy to spare as it searches for a mate. Although now equipped with braided-veined wings, it usually will not fly far from its emergence site.