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Lateral view of a Female Hexagenia limbata (Ephemeridae) (Hex) Mayfly Dun from the Namekagon River in Wisconsin
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.

Dorsal view of a Zapada cinctipes (Nemouridae) (Tiny Winter Black) Stonefly Nymph from the Yakima River in Washington
Nymphs of this species were fairly common in late-winter kick net samples from the upper Yakima River. Although I could not find a key to species of Zapada nymphs, a revision of the Nemouridae family by Baumann (1975) includes the following helpful sentence: "2 cervical gills on each side of midline, 1 arising inside and 1 outside of lateral cervical sclerites, usually single and elongate, sometimes constricted but with 3 or 4 branches arising beyond gill base in Zapada cinctipes." This specimen clearly has the branches and is within the range of that species.
27" brown trout, my largest ever. It was the sub-dominant fish in its pool. After this, I hooked the bigger one, but I couldn't land it.
Troutnut is a project started in 2003 by salmonid ecologist Jason "Troutnut" Neuswanger to help anglers and fly tyers unabashedly embrace the entomological side of the sport. Learn more about Troutnut or support the project for an enhanced experience here.

Aafloyd has attached these 2 pictures to aid in identification. The message is below.
Here is the lot of them below a light in the morning.
Aafloyd
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Mouth of Wilson, VA

Posts: 8
Aafloyd on Oct 31, 2011October 31st, 2011, 4:57 pm EDT
I took this photo on June 26 after checking my street light early one morning. I'm having a heck of a time figuring this one out. I'm thinking maybe Ephemerella dorothea dorothea or some sort of Anthopotamus but I haven't found any matches at all. The body was maybe 1/2-3/4" The photo was taken in the southwest Virginia mountains.
Softhackle
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Wellsville, NY

Posts: 540
Softhackle on Oct 31, 2011October 31st, 2011, 5:09 pm EDT
Beautiful photo! Shows great detail. I don't think i is dorothea. It seems a little late in the year.

Mark
"I have the highest respect for the skilled wet-fly fisherman, as he has mastered an art of very great difficulty." Edward R. Hewitt

Flymphs, Soft-hackles and Spiders: http://www.troutnut.com/libstudio/FS&S/index.html
Entoman
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Northern CA & ID

Posts: 2604
Entoman on Oct 31, 2011October 31st, 2011, 5:18 pm EDT
Hi Aefloyd -

That's an Anthopotamus distinctus female subimago (dun) (Commonly known to anglers as Potamanthus or Golden Drake)

Welcome to the forum!

Regards,

Kurt
"It's not that I find fishing so important, it's just that I find all other endeavors of Man equally unimportant... And not nearly as much fun!" Robert Traver, Anatomy of a Fisherman
Aafloyd
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Mouth of Wilson, VA

Posts: 8
Aafloyd on Oct 31, 2011October 31st, 2011, 5:21 pm EDT
Thanks - I've still got my old film macro lens that can take some beautiful shots but being that it is for SLRs it has an extremely shallow depth of field making it impossible to get the entire critter in focus. The beauty of those SLRs seems to be the down fall in this case.

Yeah, I didn't find any examples of dorothea that really matched, but I didn't really find any others either :(
Aafloyd
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Mouth of Wilson, VA

Posts: 8
Aafloyd on Oct 31, 2011October 31st, 2011, 5:33 pm EDT
Any clue when distinctus hatches, time of day?

Glad to be here!

Aaron
Oldredbarn
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Novi, MI

Posts: 2600
Oldredbarn on Oct 31, 2011October 31st, 2011, 5:36 pm EDT
I agree with Mark. No to E dorothea...Their wings are solidly light dun/cream without the "hash-marks"...Did Potamanthus distinctus keep the distinctus when it switched over to your second guess Anthropotamus? That's my guess. Where's Roger when we need him? :)

Spence
"Even when my best efforts fail it's a satisfying challenge, and that, after all, is the essence of fly fishing." -Chauncy Lively

"Envy not the man who lives beside the river, but the man the river flows through." Joseph T Heywood
Oldredbarn
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Novi, MI

Posts: 2600
Oldredbarn on Oct 31, 2011October 31st, 2011, 5:39 pm EDT
That's an Anthopotamus distinctus female subimago (dun) (Commonly known to anglers as Potamanthus or Golden Drake)


Kurt...Do you live here? :) You must have a beeper or something that goes off when a new(ish) bug shows up here. You beat me to the draw.

Spence

I wish I had been down by the river that day! That looks to have been a nice hatch.
"Even when my best efforts fail it's a satisfying challenge, and that, after all, is the essence of fly fishing." -Chauncy Lively

"Envy not the man who lives beside the river, but the man the river flows through." Joseph T Heywood
Entoman
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Northern CA & ID

Posts: 2604
Entoman on Oct 31, 2011October 31st, 2011, 5:42 pm EDT
Ah.. you cut me to the quick, dear friend. That's not a second guess, it's an update. Potamtanthus was changed to Anthopotamus by those pesky entomologists while I was dealing with goblins at the door.:)

Regards,

Kurt
"It's not that I find fishing so important, it's just that I find all other endeavors of Man equally unimportant... And not nearly as much fun!" Robert Traver, Anatomy of a Fisherman
Aafloyd
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Mouth of Wilson, VA

Posts: 8
Aafloyd on Oct 31, 2011October 31st, 2011, 5:47 pm EDT
I wish I had been down by the river that day! That looks to have been a nice hatch.


Wish I would have been there to! I never saw the hatch or know when it took place. I can check my lights at about 11PM or at sunrise and find them there. Often I check the lights before going to work and end up with torturous images of mayflies swimming in my head all day long!!
Oldredbarn
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Novi, MI

Posts: 2600
Oldredbarn on Oct 31, 2011October 31st, 2011, 6:12 pm EDT
Often I check the lights before going to work and end up with torturous images of mayflies swimming in my head all day long!!


I hear you brother...A hatch like that and I would of called in sick! :)

The only time I've seen them here was in a stockie pond near Detroit here...I was in a float tube, as was a good friend of mine. He looked at me and asked if I happened to have any Robert's Yellow-Drakes on me...I have returned to that pond every year there-after and never saw them again(?)

Welcome aboard by-the-way...

I grew up down in the "tide-water" of Norfolk VA until I was 9...Left VA 1963...

Spence
"Even when my best efforts fail it's a satisfying challenge, and that, after all, is the essence of fly fishing." -Chauncy Lively

"Envy not the man who lives beside the river, but the man the river flows through." Joseph T Heywood
Entoman
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Northern CA & ID

Posts: 2604
Entoman on Oct 31, 2011October 31st, 2011, 6:18 pm EDT
Spense - Yes and yes (until Jason starts charging me rent).

Aafloyd - They are closely related to the Ephemeridae (Green Drake and Hex) That are tusked and fringed-gilled as nymphs but they do not burrow like their cousins. Instead they live in shallow little depressions of fine sand or silt. They typically inhabit med. to large rivers usually too warm for trout and hatch in the evening.

A curious thing about the name change: They used to be in the family Ephemeridae with the genus name Potamanthus. They have been re-classified into a new genus Anthopotamus and placed in a new family, the Potamanthidae. So, it is correct to call them potamanthids but not Potamanthus. Confused a little? Sorry about that (no wonder latin gets a bad rap). This mayfly is one of the most beautiful and graceful in North America. Speaking of latin, potamanthus translates into "river flower". Who says Scientists can't be poets?:)

"It's not that I find fishing so important, it's just that I find all other endeavors of Man equally unimportant... And not nearly as much fun!" Robert Traver, Anatomy of a Fisherman
Aafloyd
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Mouth of Wilson, VA

Posts: 8
Aafloyd on Oct 31, 2011October 31st, 2011, 6:29 pm EDT
Awesome - thank you guys for the help and warm welcome! So Anthopotamus distinctus it is.

I do typically see these with the Hexagenia limbata nearby. I also can affirm that the section of stream they both come out of holds the trifecta of eastern trout. I live just above an old dam so I'm assuming they (Hex) are burrowing in the silty area above it, and so Anthropotamus distinctus would be in the same habitat.
Falsifly
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Hayward, WI.

Posts: 660
Falsifly on Oct 31, 2011October 31st, 2011, 6:49 pm EDT
So, it is correct to call them potamanthids but not Potamanthus. Confused a little?


Not at all, it’s clear as mud.

Speaking of latin, potamanthus translates into "river flower".


Which begs the question, what of Anthropotamus?
Falsifly
When asked what I just caught that monster on I showed him. He put on his magnifiers and said, "I can't believe they can see that."
Taxon
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Site Editor
Plano, TX

Posts: 1311
Taxon on Oct 31, 2011October 31st, 2011, 7:09 pm EDT
Spence-

Where's Roger when we need him? :)


The truth be known, I was returning DVD rentals to Safeway. Incidentally, I agree with Kurt that the genus is Anthopotamus, and that it's a dun (subimago). However, I believe (based on eye location on the head) that it's actually a male.

Best regards,
Roger Rohrbeck
www.FlyfishingEntomology.com
Entoman
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Northern CA & ID

Posts: 2604
Entoman on Oct 31, 2011October 31st, 2011, 7:22 pm EDT
Allan -
Spence is right - where's Roger when we need him? I'll do my best with a poor imitation:

1. The new family name for this specimen is Potamanthidae. Therefore it is correct to call specimens within the family potamanthids (like specimens of the Baetidae family can be referred to as baetids).

2. The new genus name for this specimen is Anthopotamus therefor it would be incorrect to refer to this specimen as a member of the genus Potamanthus (especially since this genus name is no longer valid).

3. It is not "Anthro-" it is "Antho-". Don't know where the "r" came from; sorry about that. I believe it translates roughly the same though, as "Antho" also means flower.

Editor note: The name thing is still weird and confusing for this critter. Imagine if the families Ephemerellidae and Baetidae no longer had the valid genus names Ephemerella and Baetis in them?:)

Kurt
"It's not that I find fishing so important, it's just that I find all other endeavors of Man equally unimportant... And not nearly as much fun!" Robert Traver, Anatomy of a Fisherman
Entoman
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Northern CA & ID

Posts: 2604
Entoman on Oct 31, 2011October 31st, 2011, 7:36 pm EDT
Hi roger -

Ah .. there you are.

However, I believe (based on eye location on the head) that it's actually a male.

At first I thought so too, but the specimen seems a little light in the special equipment.

Regards,

Kurt
"It's not that I find fishing so important, it's just that I find all other endeavors of Man equally unimportant... And not nearly as much fun!" Robert Traver, Anatomy of a Fisherman
Taxon
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Site Editor
Plano, TX

Posts: 1311
Taxon on Oct 31, 2011October 31st, 2011, 11:25 pm EDT
At first I thought so too, but the specimen seems a little light in the special equipment.


Good point, Kurt, I must have been suffering from tunnel vision. :-)
Best regards,
Roger Rohrbeck
www.FlyfishingEntomology.com
Entoman
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Northern CA & ID

Posts: 2604
Entoman on Nov 1, 2011November 1st, 2011, 12:06 am EDT
Roger,

I can't relate since it's never happened to me.:):) Remember that C. pictus critter last week? That was the photographers fault....

Regards,

Kurt
"It's not that I find fishing so important, it's just that I find all other endeavors of Man equally unimportant... And not nearly as much fun!" Robert Traver, Anatomy of a Fisherman
Taxon
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Site Editor
Plano, TX

Posts: 1311
Taxon on Nov 1, 2011November 1st, 2011, 1:02 am EDT
Kurt-

Thanks for the reminder? :-)
Best regards,
Roger Rohrbeck
www.FlyfishingEntomology.com
Entoman
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Northern CA & ID

Posts: 2604
Entoman on Nov 1, 2011November 1st, 2011, 1:38 am EDT
Yeah, I wouldn't have missed those speckled wings if the guy had taken a better picture!:) That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
"It's not that I find fishing so important, it's just that I find all other endeavors of Man equally unimportant... And not nearly as much fun!" Robert Traver, Anatomy of a Fisherman

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