**Mayfly Species Rhithrogena futilis (Western Gordon Quill)**

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 Rhithrogena

» Species futilis (Western Gordon Quill)

Common Names

Match	Common Name
	Western Gordon Quill
	Quill Gordon

This uncommon and slightly larger species hatches earlier than Rhithrogena hageni, but otherwise is virtually indistinguishable.

Where & When

Region: West

Time Of Year (?): Late May through July

The best populations of futilis are in the upper Northwest, but they are found elsewhere in the Rockies.

Hatching Behavior

Time Of Day (?): Morning

Spinner Behavior

Swisher and Richards mention in Selective Trout that the duns of this species are not important but the spinners can be.

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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.

Useful References:

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

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

Swisher, Doug and Carl Richards. 2000. Selective Trout. The Lyons Press.