The Stream Doctor

January 13th, 2003

Your questions and answers about everything stream related.

Q. From Greg in California. I was fishing the Kings River in California's Central Valley. On this particular day there was a black caddis hatch and I could have sworn I was bitten by one of the little buggers. Can caddisflies bite, or was I bitten by a mosquito that looked like a caddisfly after I squished it? Just wandering. Thank you for your time.

A. Unless you've got plant nectar flowing in your veins, it was probably a mosquito. Seriously, those caddisflies that feed as adults during their short adult life span feed on plant liquids.

I'll toss in another point. In your question you wrote "caddis flies" as two words, and "caddisfly" as one word. The latter is correct; I corrected the incorrect one. Only the true flies in the order Diptera have their names written as two words, e.g., black flies, deer flies, crane flies, etc. Other orders are one word, e.g., stoneflies, mayflies, caddisflies, etc. Thought you might like to know.
~ C. E. (Bert) Cushing, aka Streamdoctor
105 W. Cherokee Dr.
Estes Park, CO 80517
Phone: 970-577-1584
Email: streamdoctor@aol.com

The 'Stream Doctor' is a retired professional stream ecologist and author, now living in the West and spending way too much time fly-fishing. You are invited to submit questions relating to anything stream related directly to him for use in this Q & A Feature at streamdoctor@aol.com.
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