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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Some characteristics from the microscope images for the tentative species id: The postero-lateral projections are found only on segment 9, not segment 8. Based on the key in Jacobus et al. (2014), it appears to key to Neoleptophlebia adoptiva or Neoleptophlebia heteronea, same as this specimen with pretty different abdominal markings. However, distinguishing between those calls for comparing the lengths of the second and third segment of the labial palp, and this one (like the other one) only seems to have two segments. So I'm stuck on them both. It's likely that the fact that they're immature nymphs stymies identification in some important way.
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Sayfu
Posts: 560
Posts: 560
Sayfu on Sep 5, 2011September 5th, 2011, 4:21 pm EDT
Another unusual bug day for me today. When I took my boat out of the river there was a very large black bug with long antennae on the transom of my boat. Called a guy over, and he knew what it was, a certain kind of pine beetle, and I forgot what he said the first name was. He said they can pinch, and draw blood. It was a good two inches long, and before we left to float the river there was a bigger one on its back in the womens room that couldn't turn itself over.
Jmd123 on Sep 6, 2011September 6th, 2011, 12:07 pm EDT
That sounds like a pine sawyer, a beetle in the family Cerambycidae. Did the antennae curl up a bit at their ends? Some of them do have pretty strong mandibles so handle carefully! Some of them can also make noise by scraping their wings, its called stridulation, and they do it when you try to pick them up (happened to me at the U of M Bio Station when I found one sitting on my alarm clock one night).
Jonathon
Jonathon
No matter how big the one you just caught is, there's always a bigger one out there somewhere...
Sayfu
Posts: 560
Posts: 560
Sayfu on Sep 6, 2011September 6th, 2011, 1:43 pm EDT
Yes, the antennae did curl up at the end. First one I have ever seen.
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