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 one was surprisingly straightforward to identify. The lack of a sclerite at the base of the lateral hump narrows the field quite a bit, and the other options followed fairly obvious characteristics to Clostoeca, which only has one species, Clostoeca disjuncta.
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This topic is about the Mayfly Genus Ephemera
This genus of large mayflies boasts three species of great importance. Ephemera simulans and Ephemera guttulata, the Brown Drakes and Green Drakes, are both legendary for short-lived periods of blizzard-like hatches. The Yellow Drakes, Ephemera varia, have a slow and steady emergence period, providing consistent low-key action for several midsummer weeks.Ephemera blanda is a very localized species and unimportant to most anglers. Ephemera compar, sometimes mentioned in older books as a minor Western hatch, is now considered to be extinct.
Several important characteristics vary between the three important species. Read about each one for details.
Example specimens
GONZO on Sep 18, 2006September 18th, 2006, 4:39 am EDT
Prior to Hatches or Hatches II, Ernie Schwiebert included E. compar in Nymphs and discussed their activity on the Frying Pan in CO. Unfortunately, the species has been listed as "recently extinct" for several years.
Taxon on Sep 18, 2006September 18th, 2006, 5:49 am EDT
Lloyd-
Thanks for pointing this out. It seems my technique for mechanical parsing of the Mayfly Central Species List had missed the parenthetic subtlety on both that species, and also the other three N. American species listed as (recently extinct). In the case of Ephemera compar, the result was my having erroneously listing it as a synonym of Ephemera blanda on my Updated Taxonomy For Nymphs By Schwiebert page.
Thanks for pointing this out. It seems my technique for mechanical parsing of the Mayfly Central Species List had missed the parenthetic subtlety on both that species, and also the other three N. American species listed as (recently extinct). In the case of Ephemera compar, the result was my having erroneously listing it as a synonym of Ephemera blanda on my Updated Taxonomy For Nymphs By Schwiebert page.
Troutnut on Sep 18, 2006September 18th, 2006, 8:17 am EDT
I'll nix it soon. For now I've just added a disclaimer. Thanks for pointing it out.
Jason Neuswanger, Ph.D.
Troutnut and salmonid ecologist
Troutnut and salmonid ecologist
GONZO on Sep 18, 2006September 18th, 2006, 3:27 pm EDT
Hi Roger,
You've probably fixed this already, but I believe E. triplex is the synonym that should be included under E. blanda. Schwiebert almost seems to have sensed this--he mentions triplex in his section on blanda.
By the way, here's a silly question. I have a relatively low degree of computer literacy. How do you and Jason produce italics in your posts?
You've probably fixed this already, but I believe E. triplex is the synonym that should be included under E. blanda. Schwiebert almost seems to have sensed this--he mentions triplex in his section on blanda.
By the way, here's a silly question. I have a relatively low degree of computer literacy. How do you and Jason produce italics in your posts?
Troutnut on Sep 18, 2006September 18th, 2006, 4:47 pm EDT
I need to make a page documenting the bulletin board code. Anyway, put {i}brackets like these{/i} around italic text, using square brackets instead of curly brackets. You can also do {b}bold text{/b} and a variety of other things like bullet lists, links, and images.
My custom code doesn't follow the usual bulletin board conventions exactly. I'll put a documentation page on my to-do list.
My custom code doesn't follow the usual bulletin board conventions exactly. I'll put a documentation page on my to-do list.
Jason Neuswanger, Ph.D.
Troutnut and salmonid ecologist
Troutnut and salmonid ecologist
Taxon on Sep 18, 2006September 18th, 2006, 4:59 pm EDT
Geez Lloyd, you didn't even click on the provided link. I'm really crushed!
GONZO on Sep 19, 2006September 19th, 2006, 3:35 am EDT
Sorry Roger! As I said, my computer literacy rating is low. I have since corrected that oversight. Your update on Nymphs is a very cool tool! Unfortunately, it was too late to save my copy, which is littered with hand-written marginalia. But I will print a copy of your update and put it inside the front cover. What a great idea!
Jason--check out the italics! Thanks to both of you.
Jason--check out the italics! Thanks to both of you.
Taxon on Sep 19, 2006September 19th, 2006, 4:18 am EDT
Thanks, Lloyd.
Troutnut on Sep 19, 2006September 19th, 2006, 5:29 am EDT
- Good
- job
- with
- the
- italics
:)
Jason Neuswanger, Ph.D.
Troutnut and salmonid ecologist
Troutnut and salmonid ecologist
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