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Lateral view of a Male Baetis (Baetidae) (Blue-Winged Olive) Mayfly Dun from Mystery Creek #43 in New York
Blue-winged Olives
Baetis

Tiny Baetis mayflies are perhaps the most commonly encountered and imitated by anglers on all American trout streams due to their great abundance, widespread distribution, and trout-friendly emergence habits.

Dorsal view of a Kogotus (Perlodidae) Stonefly Nymph from Mystery Creek #199 in Washington
This one pretty clearly keys to Kogotus, but it also looks fairly different from specimens I caught in the same creek about a month later in the year. With only one species of the genus known in Washington, I'm not sure about the answer to this ID.
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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Small Western Ginger Quills

This common name refers to only one species. Click its scientific name to learn more.

Mayfly Species Cinygmula reticulata

These are very rarely called Small Western Ginger Quills.
Cinygmula reticulata is probably the second most important species of Cinygmula behind Cinygmula ramaleyi, perhaps because the waters where it can be found in good numbers are often more remote. They have been reported as abundant in many high country streams of the Southern Rockies as well as the High Sierra's Eastern slope. An obvious difference in their coloration may be the easiest way to tell them apart. Cinygmula ramaleyi is more somber with a brownish body and dark gray wings and is often confused with the similar sized and colored Ephemerella tibialis, in spite of the difference in tail counts. Cinygmula reticulata on the other hand is a bright cinnamon dorsally with pale creamy legs and pale wings that are often a brilliant canary yellow. This is one of North America's most beautiful mayflies.
Female Cinygmula reticulata (Heptageniidae) (Western Ginger Quill) Mayfly Dun from the Touchet River in Washington
Lateral view of a Male Cinygmula reticulata (Heptageniidae) (Western Ginger Quill) Mayfly Spinner from Mystery Creek #237 in Montana
The lengths of the wing and body, measured with a caliper, are both 8 mm.

Keys in Needham's 1935 Biology of Mayflies point to either Cinygmula reticulata or Cinygmula gartrelli. It seems to have crossveins in costal half of forewing only, slightly margined with brown and wings tinged with amber at base and along costal margin of both wing (gartrelli) as opposed to all crossveins of both wings faintly but broadly margined with pale smoky and wings entirely amber-tinged (although there is a slight amber tinge throughout, just more pronounced in places) as in reticulata. However, wing length reported for reticulata (9 mm) is closer to this specimen than gartrelli (10 mm). Ventral median marks are supposed to be "traces" for reticulata and "present" for gartrelli. Descriptions for both species involve semi-hyaline anterior abdominal segments not present on my specimens. Distribution records suggest reticulata lives nearby, so I'm going with that, but I can't confidently rule out gartrelli.
Cinygmula reticulata (Heptageniidae) (Western Ginger Quill) Mayfly Nymph from the Big Thompson River in Montana
I collected several live specimens of nymphs and reared them to the imago stage. They were C. reticulata. The interesting thing is they were collected in May and were emerging along with Rhithrogena (March Brown). This seems to be an overlooked hatch since in some rivers it emerges very early, before runoff.

Small Western Ginger Quills

Scientific Name
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