Mayfly Species Neoephemera purpurea

General color purplish; mesonotum light brown; venation purplish. Only the female imago and nymph of this species are known.


Head of female purplish-brown; ocelli white, narrowly dark-ringed at base; white areas at bases of antennae; paler areas lateral of each eye, on vertex; antennas purplish brown; eyes dark grey. Pronotum purplish brown. Mesonotum yellowish brown, becoming bright reddish brown posteriorly; yellow-brown portion with narrow darker sutures, and brownish-red shading along each, also at anterior margin. Metanotum light purplish brown. Pleura pale brownish; purplish brown markings, most evident as oblique streaks anterior to middle and hind leg. Prosternum and anterior portion of mesosternum light grey with purplish mottling; remaining portion purplish brown. Fore and middle legs deep purplish brown; femur narrowly pale grey at base; tibia pale yellow-brown basally and at extreme apex; a yellow mark on inner margin of each tarsal joining. Third leg light brown; all joinings purplish brown. Wings hyaline; all veins deep purplish, cross veins finer than longitudinals; costa, subcosta and radius thicker and darker than others; 9 to 10 basal costal cross veins, the basal two or three of these very faint, others somewhat better developed. In the costo-apical space the cross veins are fine, quite faint, becoming almost invisible at apex of this space; a tendency for some of these to anastomose; these veins are 20 or more in number, considerably slanted and somewhat irregular.

Abdomen reddish purple, many segments considerably mottled with fine paler marks, especially on sternites, which thus appear paler than tergites; tergites 2 and 3 also much mottled. Pleural fold and area immediately adjoining it, on tergites and sternites, blackish; a paler streak on each tergite near posterior margin; on basal sternites, a pale spot in this dark area, next pleural fold. Overlapping portions of tergites appear darker; intersegmental areas of sternites paler. On basal tergites, blackish diffuse mid-dorsal line; this becomes wider and more diffuse on 6, not present on other segments, but a narrow pale median hair-line is present on middle ones. Tracheal branchings faintly greyish white. Tails very dark purplish brown or black; 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 6th basal joints shorter than others.