» Class Insecta (Insects)
1 order (Neuroptera)
isn't included.
Common Name
This is page 72 of specimens of Insecta. Visit the main Insecta page for:
- The behavior and habitat of Insecta.
- 114 underwater pictures of Insecta.
Pictures of 1229 Insect Specimens:
Neoephemera Mayfly Nymph
View 7 PicturesThis specimen was sent to me for identification by Caleb Boyle, who did such a good job taking pictures of his mystery mayfly that, after identification, I asked him for permission to add it to this site, which he granted. This is great luck, since Neoephemera is a rare mayfly and it's unlikely I would ever have collected a specimen for the site myself.
Caleb collected it in mid-late May of 2004 either McDowell County or Ashe County in North Carolina, in a riffle less than two feet deep in a cold trout stream. He reared the nymph into a dun, whose wings appear in one of the photos below. He describes the specimen as follows:
Nymph exoskeleton:
Body: 16-17mm
Tails: 3, equal length, 13mm
Found on the surface of the water. The gill cover covers ab. segments 3-5.
Subimago (Subimago: Mayfly nymphs emerge from the water into subimagoes, better known to anglers as "duns." They are a sexually immature, winged, recognizably adult stage and they must molt one more time into imagoes or "spinners" before they can mate.):
Body: 16mm, dark brown/ olive
Tails: 3, equal length, 14mm
Wings: dark slate color, large hind wings.
I don't know to which species it belongs, but its size rules out the most common one in the genus, Neoephemera bicolor. It matches the size of Neoephemera purporea so that is a likely other possibility, but there are two other candidate species (Neoephemera compressa and Neoephemera youngi) about which I have no information, so I can't rule them out.
Disregard the camera, region, and exact date listed on these photos. I still need to update the site to accommodate user contributions which don't use my equipment. Cinygmula reticulata (Western Ginger Quill) Mayfly Nymph
View 1 PicturesI collected several live specimens of nymphs and reared them to the imago (Imago: The sexually mature adult stage of the mayfly is called the imago by scientists and the spinner by anglers.) stage. They were C. reticulata. The interesting thing is they were collected in May and were emerging along with Rhithrogena (March Brown). This seems to be an overlooked hatch since in some rivers it emerges very early, before runoff.