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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This specimen keys pretty easily to Onocosmoecus, and it closely resembles a specimen from Alaska which caddis expert Dave Ruiter recognized as this genus. As with that specimen, the only species in the genus documented in this area is Onocosmoecus unicolor, but Dave suggested for that specimen that there might be multiple not-yet-distinguished species under the unicolor umbrella and it would be best to stick with the genus-level ID. I'm doing the same for this one.
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Caddisfly Species Neophylax rickeri (Brown Dot Sedges)
There is a study on the life history of this species in the North American Benthological Society abstracts.
Where & when
Many of the larvae are full-grown by mid- to late Spring and they enter a period of diapause until it's time to pupate and emerge in the fall.In 10 records from GBIF, adults of this species have been collected during October (60%), September (20%), March (10%), and November (10%).
In 2 records from GBIF, this species has been collected at elevations of 492 and 722 ft.
Species Range
Egg-Laying behavior
The females land on rocks in riffles and crawl underwater to lay their eggs on the downstream side.Start a Discussion of Neophylax rickeri
References
- LaFontaine, Gary. 1981. Caddisflies. The Lyons Press.
- Swisher, Doug and Carl Richards. 2000. Selective Trout. The Lyons Press.
Caddisfly Species Neophylax rickeri (Brown Dot Sedges)
Species Range
Common Names
Resources
- NatureServe
- Integrated Taxonomic Information System
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility
- Described by Milne (1935)