**Female Leptophlebia cupida (Borcher Drake) Mayfly Spinner Pictures**

Mayflies

Caddisflies

Stoneflies

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

» Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

» Class Insecta (Insects)

» Order Ephemeroptera (Mayflies)

» Family Leptophlebiidae (Blue Quills and Mahogany Duns)

» Genus Leptophlebia (Black Quills and Blue Quills)

» Species cupida (Borcher Drake)

This large female Leptophlebia spinner emerged from a nymph I was holding in my room one night. I didn't have time to photograph her and she molted into a spinner before I was home from work in the evening. So here she is as a spinner. I wish I had more photos at more angles, but she flew off and I couldn't find her.

This mayfly was collected from unknown on May 18th, 2004 and added to Troutnut.com on January 25th, 2006.

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Female Leptophlebia cupida (Borcher Drake) Mayfly Spinner from unknown in Wisconsin

AuthorTroutnut

CameraOlympus C740UZ

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AuthorTroutnut

CameraOlympus C740UZ

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Jargon Defined:

Nymph: 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).

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.