Updates from April 19, 2006

This large Perlodidae stonefly was a strikingly bright yellow color, more so than any other insect I've seen. I didn't enhance it much. See the discussion threads to follow how we identified this specimen, which was listed incorrectly for several years.

I collected this male Hendrickson dun and a female in the pool on the Beaverkill where the popular Hendrickson pattern was first created. He is descended from mayfly royalty.

I spent most of the day looking for Epeorus pluralis duns or spinners without any luck on the major Catskill rivers. Finally in the evening I arrived at a small stream somebody had recommended, and when I got out of the car I was happy to find that I had parked in the middle of a cloud of male spinners.

I collected this female Hendrickson dun and a male in the pool on the Beaverkill where the popular Hendrickson pattern was first created. She is descended from mayfly royalty.

This little early-season dun molted into this spinner after I photographed her.

This small Ephemerella invaria nymph was at least a month away from emergence.

This Isonychia bicolor nymph from the Catskills displays the prominent white stripe sometimes characteristic of its species. This is the first such specimen I've photographed, because members of the same species in the Upper Midwest have a more subdued stripe (and were once thought to be a different species, Isonychia sadleri). The striking coloration on this eastern nymph is more appealing.

This was the only Rhithrogena specimen in a large sample of nymphs from a small Catskill stream. It looks virtually identical to Rhithrogena impersonata specimens collected in the Midwest, but I didn't get to check the distinguishing features under a microscope.

I'm not sure if this cranefly larva is in the genus Hexatoma or Limnophila, but the habitat suggests Hexatoma. Its coloring is iridescent, and I've never heard of that before. However, there is an insect virus genus Iridovirus which can infect craneflies and causes iridescence. It has not been reported in this region as far as I can tell, but perhaps it is the culprit. It makes for beautiful pictures.

This is the first specimen of the Peltoperlidae stonefly family that I've collected. It's very small and probably an early instar, but I'm not choosy about new bugs.

This specimen was collected together with a lighter one of the same species. It resembles another specimen from about 1300 miles away in Wisconsin, which I tentatively called Ephemerella needhami. This one has much less prominent abdominal tubercles. It may be that they're both the same species and I don't have my identifications straight.

This Epeorus pluralis dun is recently deceased in these photos. I decided not to photograph several lively, less mature nymphs. This one was ready to hatch, as indicated by the black wing pads. I believe it had not been dead long enough to lose its natural coloration.

I captured and photographed this specimen as a dun before she molted into the spinner photographed here. Her wings got a bit torn up in the process.

This specimen was collected together with a darker one of the same species.

I really hoped to catch some good blue quill specimens on this trip, but they are very fragile mayflies and this one was in the best condition of the few that I caught after I drove them home to my camera. It may not be pretty, but you get an idea of the size/shape/color anyway.

I photographed this Maccaffertium vicarium nymph shortly after it molted to a new instar in my holding container. Many nymphs take on drastically different coloration immediately after molting, and this species is no exception.

I had heard reports of a bright red heptageniid nymph before but never seen one until I found this early instar specimen in a very high water quality small stream in the Catskills.