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Lateral view of a Female Hexagenia limbata (Ephemeridae) (Hex) Mayfly Dun from the Namekagon River in Wisconsin
Hex Mayflies
Hexagenia limbata

The famous nocturnal Hex hatch of the Midwest (and a few other lucky locations) stirs to the surface mythically large brown trout that only touch streamers for the rest of the year.

27" brown trout, my largest ever. It was the sub-dominant fish in its pool. After this, I hooked the bigger one, but I couldn't land it.
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Mayfly Species Afghanurus inconspicua

Taxonomic History

Recently this species was known as Nixe inconspicua.
Species Range

Physical description

Most physical descriptions on Troutnut are direct or slightly edited quotes from the original scientific sources describing or updating the species, although there may be errors in copying them to this website. Such descriptions aren't always definitive, because species often turn out to be more variable than the original describers observed. In some cases, only a single specimen was described! However, they are useful starting points.

Male Spinner

Described in Needham et al (1935) as Heptagenia inconspicua
Body length: 4 mm
Wing length: 5.5 mm

Mesonotum olive brown; abdominal tergites 2-7 pale yellow, with a median broad reddish brown band; genitalia of the lucidipennis (now a synonym of Nixe lucidipennis) type (see fig. 97).

Head light yellow; orange-brown shading on face next to eyes. Thoracic notum pale to dark olive brown; pleura light yellow. Legs pale yellow. Fore femora and tibiae smoky brown apically; basal tarsal joint about 1/3 of the second. Basal joint of hind tarsus longer than the second. Wings hyaline, venation pale; basal costal cross veins almost invisible. Abdominal segments pale yellow; 2-7 semi-hyaline, 7-10 opaque. A broad median band of light or ruddy brown, variable in intensity on different individuals, on tergites 2-7, the posterior margin of each tergite opaque, so that the abdomen appears annulate. Forceps and penes pale ochreous. Penes with a wide apical and a narrow lateral lobe, a single pair of large median spines, but none laterally or apically. Tails whitish, the basal joinings ruddy brown.

This species is apparently allied to H. lucidipennis (now a synonym of Nixe lucidipennis), but it is considerably smaller. The abdomen would seem to be paler than in H. rusticalis (now a synonym of Nixe rusticalis), and it lacks the pale markings present in the dark dorsal areas of that species.

Specimens of the Mayfly Species Afghanurus inconspicua

1 Male Dun

Start a Discussion of Afghanurus inconspicua

References

  • Needham, James G., Jay R. Traver, and Yin-Chi Hsu. 1935. The Biology of Mayflies. Comstock Publishing Company, Inc.

Mayfly Species Afghanurus inconspicua

Species Range
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