Artistic view of a Male Pteronarcys californica (Pteronarcyidae) (Giant Salmonfly) Stonefly Adult from the Gallatin River in Montana

Salmonflies
Pteronarcys californica

The giant Salmonflies of the Western mountains are legendary for their proclivity to elicit consistent dry-fly action and ferocious strikes.

Mount Deborah and Hess Mountains. Two of the greatest peaks of the Alaska Range rise behind the braided, glacial Susitna River. These massive mountains are 35 miles north of where I took this picture.

From the Susitna River in Alaska

Stream photos

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Epeorus albertae (Pink Lady) Mayfly Nymph Epeorus albertae (Pink Lady) Mayfly Nymph

Dorsal view of a Epeorus albertae (Heptageniidae) (Pink Lady) Mayfly Nymph from the East Fork Issaquah Creek in Washington

This specimen keys to the Epeorus albertae group of species. Of the five species in that group, the two known in Washington state are Epeorus albertae and Epeorus dulciana. Of the two, albertae has been collected in vastly more locations in Washington than dulciana, suggesting it is far more common. On that basis alone I'm tentatively putting this nymph in albertae, with the large caveat that there's no real information to rule out dulciana.

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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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Female Rhithrogena Mayfly Spinner Pictures

I'm very tentatively (see the connected forum thread) sticking this mayfly in Rhithrogena for now.

Female Rhithrogena (Heptageniidae) Mayfly Spinner from the West Branch of the Delaware River in New York

Ventral view of a Female Rhithrogena (Heptageniidae) Mayfly Spinner from the West Branch of the Delaware River in New York

Lateral view of a Female Rhithrogena (Heptageniidae) Mayfly Spinner from the West Branch of the Delaware River in New York

This image is overly enhanced to better show the structure of the veins.

Female Rhithrogena (Heptageniidae) Mayfly Spinner from the West Branch of the Delaware River in New York

Dorsal view of a Female Rhithrogena (Heptageniidae) Mayfly Spinner from the West Branch of the Delaware River in New York

Ruler view of a Female Rhithrogena (Heptageniidae) Mayfly Spinner from the West Branch of the Delaware River in New York The smallest ruler marks are 1 mm.

This mayfly was collected from the West Branch of the Delaware River in New York on June 7th, 2007 and added to Troutnut.com by Troutnut on June 8th, 2007.

Discussions of this Spinner

What genus is this Heptageniid?

4 replies

Posted by Troutnut on Jun 8, 2007

Last reply on Feb 1, 2009 by Taxon

I didn't even recognize it as a member of that family at first, but it seems to be the only option. The hind tarsus is distinctly 5-segmented, which I verified under the microscope because you can't see it very well on my photos. However, I because it's a female spinner I can't key it to genus using the Merrit & Cummins keys. Does anyone just recognize it?

I found it drifting, nearly dead on the surface at about 5pm on a hot afternoon.

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