Landscape & scenery photos from the Madison River
Date AddedJul 17, 2019
CameraNIKON 1 AW1
Date AddedJul 17, 2019
CameraNIKON 1 AW1
Date AddedJul 17, 2019
CameraNIKON 1 AW1
Date AddedJun 12, 2019
CameraCanon EOS 7D Mark II
Typical scene along MT-287 driving down the Madison River valley... flat pastures backed by dramatic mountains and weather in all directions.
Date AddedJul 18, 2019
CameraCanon EOS 7D Mark II
On-stream insect photos from the Madison River
We arrived at the parking lot on the Madison to find clouds of caddisflies swarming around everything, including every tree and vehicle in the parking lot.
Date AddedJul 17, 2019
CameraNIKON 1 AW1
Looking back across the Madison at a cloud of caddisflies swarming over the bank about 50 yards away, backlit by the sun.
Date AddedJul 17, 2019
CameraNIKON 1 AW1
Closeup insects from the Madison River
Female Sweltsa (Sallflies) Stonefly Adult
View 8 PicturesThese stoneflies--abundant during midday--seemed at first to be flying around with plain yellow bodies, but on closer inspection turn out to have striking, fiery red abdomens. This one keys out to albertensis, gaufini, or lambda, but the key (Baumann et al 1977) doesn't include all current species.
Male Ephemerella aurivillii Mayfly Dun
View 7 PicturesThis dun was collected in proximity to this spinner, and to this female that looks like the same species.
Among western species, it most closely resembles Ephemerella aurivillii, of which I reared a specimen from a positively-identified nymph and photographed the male dun previously in Alaska. In the photos, this dun does not seem to have the same evidence of the nymph's dorsal (Dorsal: Top.) stripe, but that's due to the lighting. A faint stripe is apparent under the microscope, as it is in the female linked above.
They do appear to be a bit short for aurivillii, with the male at 8 mm and the female at 9 mm, but the spinners could be a bit longer.
Among the other Ephemerella mayflies documented in Montana, Ephemerella alleni and Ephemerella mucronata are the only two others that seem to not be ruled out.
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