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.
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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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This specimen is really strange, very different in form from any other mayfly I've seen. Unfortunately it was found alone crippled in an eddy and in pretty bad shape, and I couldn't find any others like it.
Troutnut on Jun 25, 2006June 25th, 2006, 4:12 pm EDT
I don't recognize this fly at all, and the major features are too damaged for me to follow my key to families. I'm guessing maybe it's some large and obscure species of Heptageniid, but it could be from some rare family of mayflies too.
Jason Neuswanger, Ph.D.
Troutnut and salmonid ecologist
Troutnut and salmonid ecologist