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3. Guess this nymph

Here's a little teaser from a few photos I'll be putting up soon. I thought it would be fun to see if people can figure out the genus & species of this critter.

It might be really easy or really tricky, I'm not sure, and I can't judge because I already know what it is. You can clearly see everything you need to identify it to species, but the weird perspective might make it challenging.

OK, I'll guess Drunella doddsii.

Jason, that's really cool. There are some similar pen and ink drawings out there of Japanese mayflies in some scientific papers. Action shots really bring the critters to life.

Those of you familiar with my bug ID skills will know that this is just a hunch, but my immediate guess was March Brown, which I thought was Stenacron (my ID skills being matched by my knowledge of the Latin names for my IDs). After looking at Jason's database, though, I see that that constitutes two different guesses. So I guess I get two guesses.

-Shawn

P.S. I love the way the photo is shot, with the mysterious backlighting, like we're trying to guess the secret identity of a government witness. That's why I had to hazard a guess - too cool.

I'll say doddsi too -and ready to pop!

Clues:
-three tails
-wide femur
-Wide stance
-ventral patch of filaments hallowed in the backlight
-Jason had these in his latest collection

It is Drunella doddsii. Good job!

The general body profile points to the Ephemerellidae family, the beefy fore femora ("biceps") to Drunella, and the hairy suction disk below the abdomen says doddsii.

What do you mean, "Good job!"? I missed on both my guesses! At least I knew it was a mayfly...

-Shawn

It sounded more polite than "Good job everybody but Shawn!" ;)