Updates from June 4, 2005

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.

I collected this larva and several like it from the same stream and on the same day as this pupa. I suspect they're the same species.

This specimen shows one of two distinct color types of Rhithrogena impersonata nymphs. This type is very reddish, especially in the gills, perhaps a representative of the form formerly known as a separate speciesRhithrogena sanguinea.

I used a microscope to positively identify this nymph as Heptagenia pulla. (Edit six years later: I wish I had explained why I was positive about this. It may have been based on color patterns in an angling text, which are not especially reliable for species ID anymore.)

This specimen strikingly resembles another specimen from about 1300 miles away in the Catskills, which I tentatively called Ephemerella aurivillii. This one has much more prominent abdominal tubercles. It may be that they're both the same species and I don't have my identifications straight.

This dun was badly damaged in transport and all its legs fell off, but I photographed it anyway because I wasn't sure I would fine more and it's an interesting species. Luckily I collected better specimens a few days later.