Header image
Enter a name
Lateral view of a Male Baetis (Baetidae) (Blue-Winged Olive) Mayfly Dun from Mystery Creek #43 in New York
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.

Case view of a Pycnopsyche guttifera (Limnephilidae) (Great Autumn Brown Sedge) Caddisfly Larva from the Yakima River in Washington
It's only barely visible in one of my pictures, but I confirmed under the microscope that this one has a prosternal horn and the antennae are mid-way between the eyes and front of the head capsule.

I'm calling this one Pycnopsyche, but it's a bit perplexing. It seems to key definitively to at least Couplet 8 of the Key to Genera of Limnephilidae Larvae. That narrows it down to three genera, and the case seems wrong for the other two. The case looks right for Pycnopsyche, and it fits one of the key characteristics: "Abdominal sternum II without chloride epithelium and abdominal segment IX with only single seta on each side of dorsal sclerite." However, the characteristic "metanotal sa1 sclerites not fused, although often contiguous" does not seem to fit well. Those sclerites sure look fused to me, although I can make out a thin groove in the touching halves in the anterior half under the microscope. Perhaps this is a regional variation.

The only species of Pycnopsyche documented in Washington state is Pycnopsyche guttifera, and the colors and markings around the head of this specimen seem to match very well a specimen of that species from Massachusetts on Bugguide. So I am placing it in that species for now.

Whatever species this is, I photographed another specimen of seemingly the same species from the same spot a couple months later.
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.
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.

Male Ephemerella aurivillii Mayfly Dun Pictures

This dun hatched in my aquarium on July 16th from an easily identified nymph collected on July 10th, and it molted into a spinner after I photographed it. The beautiful spinner form is listed as separate specimen. I forgot to photograph the dun with the ruler, but naturally his size is pretty similar to what it was as a spinner.

Male Ephemerella aurivillii (Ephemerellidae) Mayfly Dun from Nome Creek in Alaska
Lateral view of a Male Ephemerella aurivillii (Ephemerellidae) Mayfly Dun from Nome Creek in Alaska
Ventral view of a Male Ephemerella aurivillii (Ephemerellidae) Mayfly Dun from Nome Creek in Alaska
Male Ephemerella aurivillii (Ephemerellidae) Mayfly Dun from Nome Creek in Alaska
Dorsal view of a Male Ephemerella aurivillii (Ephemerellidae) Mayfly Dun from Nome Creek in Alaska
Male Ephemerella aurivillii (Ephemerellidae) Mayfly Dun from Nome Creek in Alaska
Male Ephemerella aurivillii (Ephemerellidae) Mayfly Dun from Nome Creek in Alaska
Male Ephemerella aurivillii (Ephemerellidae) Mayfly Dun from Nome Creek in Alaska
Male Ephemerella aurivillii (Ephemerellidae) Mayfly Dun from Nome Creek in Alaska

This mayfly was collected from Nome Creek in Alaska on July 10th, 2011 and added to Troutnut.com by Troutnut on July 16th, 2011.

Discussions of this Dun

Borealis Dun (or whatever you decide to call it)
Posted by Entoman on Jul 16, 2011
Last reply on Jul 16, 2011 by Entoman
Wow, that's our boy. Definitely pink, eh? Answers a lot of questions for out West.:)

Start a Discussion of Dun

Male Ephemerella aurivillii Mayfly Dun Pictures

Collection details
Location: Nome Creek, Alaska
Date: July 10th, 2011
Added to site: July 16th, 2011
Author: Troutnut
Troutnut.com is copyright © 2004-2024 (email Jason). privacy policy