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.
Option 1 | Option 2 |
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Mesonotum without anterolateral lobes (source fig 13.18) | Mesonotum with distinct rounded lobe on anterolateral corners (source fig 13.17) |
Operculate gills on abdominal segment 2 not fused medially | Operculate gills on abdominal segment 2 fused medially |
Hind wing pads absent | Hind wing pads present |
5 Example Specimens | 1 Example SpecimenThis specimen was sent to me for identification by Caleb Boyle, who did such a good job taking pictures of his mystery mayfly that, after identification, I asked him for permission to add it to this site, which he granted. This is great luck, since Neoephemera is a rare mayfly and it's unlikely I would ever have collected a specimen for the site myself.
Caleb collected it in mid-late May of 2004 either McDowell County or Ashe County in North Carolina, in a riffle less than two feet deep in a cold trout stream. He reared the nymph into a dun, whose wings appear in one of the photos below. He describes the specimen as follows: Nymph exoskeleton: Body: 16-17mm Tails: 3, equal length, 13mm Found on the surface of the water. The gill cover covers ab. segments 3-5. Subimago: Body: 16mm, dark brown/ olive Tails: 3, equal length, 14mm Wings: dark slate color, large hind wings. I don't know to which species it belongs, but its size rules out the most common one in the genus, Neoephemera bicolor. It matches the size of Neoephemera purporea so that is a likely other possibility, but there are two other candidate species (Neoephemera compressa and Neoephemera youngi) about which I have no information, so I can't rule them out. Disregard the camera, region, and exact date listed on these photos. I still need to update the site to accommodate user contributions which don't use my equipment. |
Caenidae | Neoephemeridae Genus Neoephemera |