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Lateral view of a Female Hexagenia limbata (Ephemeridae) (Hex) Mayfly Dun from the Namekagon River in Wisconsin
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.

Dorsal view of a Zapada cinctipes (Nemouridae) (Tiny Winter Black) Stonefly Nymph from the Yakima River in Washington
Nymphs of this species were fairly common in late-winter kick net samples from the upper Yakima River. Although I could not find a key to species of Zapada nymphs, a revision of the Nemouridae family by Baumann (1975) includes the following helpful sentence: "2 cervical gills on each side of midline, 1 arising inside and 1 outside of lateral cervical sclerites, usually single and elongate, sometimes constricted but with 3 or 4 branches arising beyond gill base in Zapada cinctipes." This specimen clearly has the branches and is within the range of that species.
27" brown trout, my largest ever. It was the sub-dominant fish in its pool. After this, I hooked the bigger one, but I couldn't land it.
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Male Cinygmula ramaleyi (Small Western Gordon Quill) Mayfly Spinner Pictures

This one was preserved in ethanol and partially dissected, so it doesn't have its natural wild coloration, and it's missing some appendages. I'm posting it for identification purposes.

Low-quality shot of the whole ventral view before I got the camera working properly.

Ventral view of a Male Cinygmula ramaleyi (Heptageniidae) (Small Western Gordon Quill) Mayfly Spinner from Mystery Creek #186 in Alaska
Claspers were removed for a clearer view of the genitalia, a key identifying characteristic in this genus.

Male Cinygmula ramaleyi (Heptageniidae) (Small Western Gordon Quill) Mayfly Spinner from Mystery Creek #186 in Alaska
Male Cinygmula ramaleyi (Heptageniidae) (Small Western Gordon Quill) Mayfly Spinner from Mystery Creek #186 in Alaska
Dorsal view of a Male Cinygmula ramaleyi (Heptageniidae) (Small Western Gordon Quill) Mayfly Spinner from Mystery Creek #186 in Alaska

This mayfly was collected from Mystery Creek #186 in Alaska on September 4th, 2015 and added to Troutnut.com by Troutnut on October 27th, 2015.


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Male Cinygmula ramaleyi (Small Western Gordon Quill) Mayfly Spinner Pictures

Collection details
Location: Mystery Creek #186, Alaska
Date: September 4th, 2015
Added to site: October 27th, 2015
Author: Troutnut
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