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

**Mayfly Genus Cinygmula (Dark Red Quills)**

Mayflies

Caddisflies

Stoneflies

Taxonomic Navigation -?-

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

» Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

» Class Insecta (Insects)

» Order Ephemeroptera (Mayflies)

» Family Heptageniidae (March Browns, Cahills, Quill Gordons)

» Genus Cinygmula (Dark Red Quills)

Species in Cinygmula
Cinygmula mimus	0	0
Cinygmula par	0	0
Cinygmula ramaleyiSmall Western Gordon Quill	0	0
Cinygmula reticulataWestern Ginger Quill	0	0
Cinygmula subaequalisSmall Gordon Quill	0	0

5 species aren't included.

Common Name

Match	Common Name
	Dark Red Quills

Pictures Below ↓

This is primarily a Western genus. Cinygmula ramaleyi is the most important species, producing good hatches in the West. Cinygmula reticulata may also be relevant, and I have seen a great spinner swarm from an unsung species, Cinygmula par, in the Washington Cascades.

There is only one Eastern species, Cinygmula subaequalis, and its importance is minor.

Where & When

I have found different Cinygmula species emerging throughout the summer and fall in Washington and Alaska.

Hatching Behavior

Most Cinygmula duns emerge in the surface film, but in some cases they may escape their nymphal shucks (

View Full Size

Here's an underwater view of the pupal shucks of several already-emerged Brachycentrus numerosus caddisflies.

Shuck: The shed exoskeleton left over when an insect molts into its next stage or instar. Most often it describes the last nymphal or pupal skin exited during emergence into a winged adult.) while still drifting to the surface.

Spinner Behavior

The angling literature suggests that Cinygmula spinner falls are too sporadic to be important, but I have seen Cinygmula par swarming in very good numbers, albeit on a small stream where hatch-matching wasn't needed because the hungry trout would hit anything anyway.

Nymph Biology

Cinygmula nymphs can withstand slower water than many of the other genera in the Heptageniidae family.

Pictures of 35 Mayfly Specimens in the Genus Cinygmula:

Specimen Page:12 3 4 5

Cinygmula subaequalis (Small Gordon Quill) Mayfly Nymph

View 10 PicturesThis nymph is missing a few gills, but is otherwise in good shape. It was the only one of its species which turned up in my sample.

Collected May 29, 2007 from Paradise Creek in Pennsylvania
Added to Troutnut.com by Troutnut on June 4, 2007

Male Cinygmula (Dark Red Quills) Mayfly Spinner

View 11 PicturesI'm unsure of the ID on this one; keys put it closest to Cinygmula reticulata, but I'm very doubtful of the species and not positive on the genus. Epeorus is another possibility, but I don't know which species it would be.

This one was collected in association with a female dun probably of the same species.

Collected July 1, 2017 from the South Fork Stillaguamish River in Washington
Added to Troutnut.com by Troutnut on July 2, 2017

Cinygmula ramaleyi (Small Western Gordon Quill) Mayfly Nymph

View 9 PicturesThis nymph is almost definitely the same species as this dun, which hatched from a nearly identical nymph from the same collection.

Collected July 10, 2011 from Nome Creek in Alaska
Added to Troutnut.com by Troutnut on July 13, 2011

Specimen Page:12 3 4 5

Recent Discussions of Cinygmula

Red Heptagenia? 30 Replies »

Posted by GONZO on Jul 19, 2011

Last reply on Jul 24, 2011 by PaulRoberts

The gills and protruding mouthparts make me think that this might be Cinygmula. I've seen red phase Rhithrogena nymphs, but have never seen this coloration in Cinygmula (or Heptagenia).

Your Thoughts On Cinygmula:

You must log in at the top of the page to post. If you haven't registered yet, it's this easy:

Jargon Defined:

Duns: 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.

Nymphs: The juvenile, underwater stages of mayflies, stoneflies, dragonflies, and damselflies and other aquatic insects whose juvenile stages are covered by hard exoskeletons. The word can also refer to the fishing flies which imitate these creatures, in which case it is used as a blanket term for flies imitating any underwater stage of an invertebrate (except for crayfish and leeches).

View Full Size

Here's an underwater view of the pupal shucks of several already-emerged Brachycentrus numerosus caddisflies.

Shucks: The shed exoskeleton left over when an insect molts into its next stage or instar. Most often it describes the last nymphal or pupal skin exited during emergence into a winged adult.

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.

Useful References:

Arbona, Fred Jr. 1989. Mayflies, the Angler, and the Trout. Nick Lyons Books.

Caucci, Al and Nastasi, Bob. 2004. Hatches II. The Lyons Press.

Knopp, Malcolm and Robert Cormier. 1997. Mayflies: An Angler's Study of Trout Water Ephemeroptera . The Lyons Press.