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Known as the "clinger" mayflies to anglers, a few species of this family can be extremely prolific, with a lot more that aren't. These lesser species account for many of the curious mayflies you find that never seem to associate with a major hatch, let alone a fishable one. Not all heptageniid species are so scarce though; there are superhatches too.
Heptageniids can be broken into "groups" of similar genera (based on angling concerns) to help keep track of them. Although many of them are closely related, they are not officially divided in this way by entomologists. Here are the groups:
There are 211 more specimens...
LittleJ | May 18th, 2007, 6:33 pm | |
Hollidaysburg Pa Posts: 251 | Just curious do vicarium have an orange egg sac. I got on the stream last night just before dark to catch the sulpher (I think invaria) spinner fall, and when I got there all I saw were swarms of orange egg sacks.IT was too dark to see the color of the fly, but I thought that sulphers were only yellow. Do they vary in color or was it vicarium. Thanks Jeff | |
GONZO | May 19th, 2007, 11:16 am | |
Site Editor "Bear Swamp," PAPosts: 1681 | Interesting question, Jeff. The spinners you saw were probably invaria. Whether the sulphur eggs appear yellow or orange or yellowish-orange depends a bit on prevailing light and might even vary a bit from stream to stream. However, I don't think that M. vicarium females fly around with an obvious ball of eggs attached (at least I've never noticed this). Instead, I believe that the eggs are held inside the abdomen and expressed a few at a time as they dip to the water. The invaria females eject the whole ball, often well above the water's surface. (This behavior can be frustrating for trout and fly fishers, especially when few of the spinners actually fall to the surface. One clever and time-tested tactic is to imitate the egg ball with some dubbing on a 22-24 hook.) The M. vicarium females would also be noticeably larger than E. invaria and would have two tails rather than three. If anyone can confirm these egg-laying observations, I would appreciate it. | |
Martinlf | May 19th, 2007, 11:28 am | |
Moderator Palmyra PAPosts: 3233 | The observation about visible external invaria egg masses vs. internal vicarium eggs is very interesting to me. I may have mistaken invaria for vicarium a week or so ago. Thanks, Gonzo. | |
"He spread them a yard and a half. 'And every one that got away is this big.'" --Fred Chappell | ||
LittleJ | May 20th, 2007, 6:01 pm | |
Hollidaysburg Pa Posts: 251 | I was back out this evening, and the orange egg sacs were def. invaria. I got there a little earlier and saw them in good light. Thanks gonzo for clearing that up, you saved me from tying up a bunch of vicarium duns w/ orange egg sacs. And The egg sacs were almost "glo bug" orange so apparently they do vary in color. Jeff | |
Title | Replies | Last Reply |
Re: Colors of insect eggs In General Discussion by Byhaugh | 1 | Jul 29, 2017 by Taxon |
Re: Dark Sulphur In Male Ephemerella excrucians Mayfly Dun by Martinlf | 10 | May 24, 2009 by Wiflyfisher |
Re: mayfly egg-laying behavior & trout In General Discussion by Konchu | 3 | Aug 20, 2007 by Gene |
Re: mean one thing, write another? In Male Onocosmoecus unicolor Caddisfly Adult by Creno | 2 | Sep 20, 2020 by Creno |
Re: Thoughts In Male Eurylophella Mayfly Spinner by Taxon | 5 | Mar 7, 2013 by Entoman |
Re: Travel kits In Fly Tying by Roguerat | 11 | Jul 15, 2013 by Joeinnm |
Re: why the color ? In Amphipoda Scud Adult by Jordash | 12 | Sep 5, 2012 by Entoman |
Re: Not sure what this is... In the Photography Board by Freepow | 3 | Jun 6, 2008 by Freepow |
Re: Trout and Scenery! (1 more) In the Photography Board by Jesse | 4 | Aug 26, 2011 by Oldredbarn |
Re: Something for the Mayfly folks In General Discussion by Creno | 19 | Dec 22, 2013 by Brookyman |