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.
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Animals
This common name refers to only one kingdom. Click its scientific name to learn more.
Kingdom Animalia
These are pretty much always called Animals.
Metazoa is the kingdom of animals. Worms are metazoans and so were the dinosaurs. Trout and mayflies are metazoans. You are probably a metazoan.
See Arthropoda for most of the invertebrates trout eat, or skip straight to the insect orders Ephemeroptera (Mayflies), Trichoptera (Caddisflies), or Plecoptera (Stoneflies), which are the three most important.
The non-arthropod classes are listed on this site only to hold pictures, so far, and I haven't put much information up yet about them.
See Arthropoda for most of the invertebrates trout eat, or skip straight to the insect orders Ephemeroptera (Mayflies), Trichoptera (Caddisflies), or Plecoptera (Stoneflies), which are the three most important.
The non-arthropod classes are listed on this site only to hold pictures, so far, and I haven't put much information up yet about them.
This specimen is in the subphylum Turbellaria, a non-parasitic flatworm.
I captured this specimen in the same color as this photograph, during its egg-laying flight. The emergers are much lighter.
This spinner molted from a dun after being photographed, and the dun form is listed here as a separate specimen. I've rarely found a more cooperative and photogenic mayfly.
I collected this pupa and several like it from the same stream and on the same day as this larva. I suspect they're the same species. Every pupa I collected was in a brown casing like the one shown in one of the pictures below. I cut this pupa out of its case after a picture so you can see more details. It is close to but not fully developed.
See 1376 more specimens...