Blog & Latest Updates
Fly Fishing Articles
Insects by Common Name

Trout Streams & Rivers
Trout Pictures
Underwater Pictures

Desktop Backgrounds
Stream & Bug Videos
Image Use Pricing

Insect Order Ephemeroptera (Mayflies)

Mayflies

Caddisflies

Stoneflies

Taxonomic Navigation -?-

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

» Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

» Class Insecta (Insects)

» Order Ephemeroptera (Mayflies)

Family in Ephemeroptera
AmeletidaeBrown Duns	0	0
BaetidaeBlue-Winged Olives	0	10
BaetiscidaeArmored Mayflies	0	1
CaenidaeAngler's Curses	0	0
EphemerellidaeHendricksons, Sulphurs, PMDs, BWOs	0	37
EphemeridaeHexes and Big Drakes	0	3
HeptageniidaeMarch Browns, Cahills, Quill Gordons	0	11
IsonychiidaeSlate Drakes	0	0
LeptohyphidaeTricos	0	1
LeptophlebiidaeBlue Quills and Mahogany Duns	0	0
MetretopodidaePseudo-Gray Drakes	0	0
Neoephemeridae	0	0
PolymitarcyidaeWhite Flies	0	0
PotamanthidaeGolden Drakes	0	0
SiphlonuridaeGray Drakes	0	3

8 families aren't included.

Common Name

Match	Common Name
	Mayflies

Pictures Below ↓

This is page 70 of specimens of Ephemeroptera. Visit the main Ephemeroptera page for:

The behavior and habitat of Ephemeroptera.
67 underwater pictures of Ephemeroptera.

Pictures of 828 Mayfly Specimens:

Specimen Page:1...697071...84

Female Rhithrogena hageni (Western Black Quill) Mayfly Dun

View 7 PicturesI was surprised by the olive cast on the body of this female Rhithrogena dun, which led me to mistake it for a western green drake (Drunella) in the field. I was pleasantly surprised to get a closer look and find something I hadn't collected yet. Its species ID is based on proximity to male spinner collected on the same trip, as well as physical similarity (size, tergite (

One tergite of this Isonychia bicolor mayfly spinner is highlighted in red.

Tergite: The top (dorsal) part of a single segment on an insect's abdomen when it consists of a single chitinous plate (sclerite), or an individual sclerite if the segment has more than one.) coloration, dark streaks on the femora (

The femur of this Isonychia bicolor mayfly spinner is highlighted in red.

Femur: The main segment of an insect's leg close to the body, in between the tibia and the trochanter.)) to that specimen.

Collected July 4, 2020 from Mystery Creek #249 in Washington
Added to Troutnut.com by Troutnut on July 12, 2020

Male Neoleptophlebia heteronea (Blue Quill) Mayfly Spinner

View 10 Pictures

Collected August 4, 2020 from Trealtor Creek in Idaho
Added to Troutnut.com by Troutnut on August 20, 2020

Male Ephemerella invaria (Sulphur Dun) Mayfly Dun

View 3 Pictures

Collected May 29, 2004 from unknown in Wisconsin
Added to Troutnut.com by Troutnut on January 25, 2006

Female Heptageniidae (March Browns, Cahills, Quill Gordons) Mayfly Dun

View 4 Pictures

Collected June 5, 2005 from the Teal River in Wisconsin
Added to Troutnut.com by Troutnut on May 24, 2006

Female Tricorythodes (Tricos) Mayfly Spinner

View 4 PicturesThis Trico spinner was recently deceased in the photographs.

Collected September 5, 2006 from the Neversink River in New York
Added to Troutnut.com by Troutnut on October 3, 2006

Female Baetidae (Blue-Winged Olives) Mayfly Dun

View 3 Pictures

Collected May 22, 2004 from unknown in Wisconsin
Added to Troutnut.com by Troutnut on January 25, 2006

Female Ephemerella excrucians (Pale Morning Dun) Mayfly Dun

View 12 PicturesThis "specimen" is actually two different duns, one missing the middle front and back left legs, the other missing the terminal filament i.e. middle tail. I added them together by accident, but since they're the same species, stage, and gender, I might as well leave them together.

Collected August 2, 2020 from the Big Lost River in Idaho
Added to Troutnut.com by Troutnut on August 18, 2020

Male Cinygmula ramaleyi (Small Western Gordon Quill) Mayfly Spinner

View 10 Pictures

Collected August 3, 2020 from Star Hope Creek in Idaho
Added to Troutnut.com by Troutnut on August 19, 2020

Female Leptophlebia cupida (Borcher Drake) Mayfly Spinner

View 3 PicturesI'm not positive of the collection date on this one, so I'm guessing.

Collected May 20, 2004 from unknown in Wisconsin
Added to Troutnut.com by Troutnut on January 25, 2006

Male Heptagenia culacantha Mayfly Dun

View 3 PicturesHyun Kounne generously provided photos of the striking, hard-to-find Heptagenia culacantha from the mainstem Delaware River. She mentioned it was one of maybe half a dozen she saw on the water that day.

Collected June 3, 2017 from the Delaware River in New York
Added to Troutnut.com by Troutnut on December 5, 2019

Specimen Page:1...697071...84

Jargon Defined:

Dun: Mayflies have two adult stages. They first emerge from the water as duns (scientifically known as the subimago stage). They then molt into the spinner (imago) stage, in which they mate and die. Sometimes the word "dun" is confusingly used to refer to a brownish gray color in fly tying materials.

The femur of this Isonychia bicolor mayfly spinner is highlighted in red.

Femora: The main segment of an insect's leg close to the body, in between the tibia and the trochanter.

Spinner: There are two winged stages of adult mayflies. They emerge from the water as duns, molt on land (usually) into their fully mature stage, spinners. As spinners, they mate, lay eggs, and die.

One tergite of this Isonychia bicolor mayfly spinner is highlighted in red.

Tergite: The top (dorsal) part of a single segment on an insect's abdomen when it consists of a single chitinous plate (sclerite), or an individual sclerite if the segment has more than one.