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.
Featured on the forum
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.
Troutnut is a project started in 2003 by salmonid ecologist Jason "Troutnut" Neuswanger to help anglers and
fly tyers unabashedly embrace the entomological side of the sport. Learn more about Troutnut or
support the project for an enhanced experience here.
Mayfly Genus Cinygma (Western Light Cahills)
This uncommon Western genus is closely related to Cinygmula. It rarely provides good hatches.
Genus Range
Hatching behavior
These mayflies emerge in the surface flim.Nymph biology
Current speed: Slow
Specimens of the Mayfly Genus Cinygma
2 Male Spinners
A couple days earlier I caught a male spinner of this species with some wing damage and missing tails, so I went back to the same pool try to get one more intact. This one has some leg damage, but between the two specimens you can get an idea what the whole insect looked like. There were small clouds of Cinygma dimicki spinners again over the same two small, specific locations in the pool, which is an interesting testament to how repeatably they choose their ideal mating habitat. I was able to capture this one and a female.
I found a couple small (one or two dozen flies) clouds of these male spinners dancing low over the riffly parts of a pool in this fast river draining out of the Cascades.
1 Female Spinner
This female spinner was collected with a male from the same swarm.
1 Nymph
Discussions of Cinygma
Cinygma mayflies
2 replies
Posted by Bnewell on Jul 15, 2011
Last reply on Jul 19, 2011 by Entoman
Perhaps one reason Cinygma mayflies do not create much interest for fishermen is because of their habit. They seem to prefer these small headwater streams, often streams without trout.
Start a Discussion of Cinygma
References
- Knopp, Malcolm and Robert Cormier. 1997. Mayflies: An Angler's Study of Trout Water Ephemeroptera . The Lyons Press.
