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I had a little visitor show up at work and managed a few quick shots. I rushed in to grab my 6 in. scale, from the shop, but it took flight before I could get a measurement. My guess is approximately 25 mm OA.

Al -
That's a Callibaetis female dun, probably ferrugineus ferrugineus (Speckled Quill). What's funny is that I literally just finished posting about them a little on the "Pine creek" thread that's still up on the roster below this one (for now).:)

BTW - are you sure about this critter being an inch long? Perhaps you are including tails? We have a species out here, C. californicus that can get pretty big (measuring up to 12mm) but it's the largest baetid I'm aware of.

Ah, thanks for the rest of the pictures. I believe it's definitely C. f. ferrugineus. Sounds like you may have an outsized specimen, though.

Kurt, it seems that when I was posting it was coming up one picture at a time. Don't know what I was doing wrong. Yes the 25mm OA (overall) includes the tails.

Thanks.

Your welcome. Ah... So that's what OA meant! I was thinking you meant "on average". Sorry, my bad.:) You must have a lake nearby? Maybe worth checking out? Great photos for off the cuff, BTW.

BINGO
I was going to mention that I'm only a short walk off of the Chippewa Flowage and several miles from any moving water.

Ya, that definitely looks like Callibaetis, but I didn't know we had them in our backyard. I have seen them on the Hebgen Lake, etc. out West but not here before.

Hi John,

Your experience doesn't surprise me. Though widely distributed their populations are usually pretty sparse east of the Rockies. I used to think it was the lack of alkalinity, but now I'm thinking it also has a lot to do with the presence of sunfish. Some of the lakes out here that provided tremendous populations of Speckled Quills in the past are now mere shadows of their former selves since the introduction of Blue Ears and other varieties of those little devils. I don't know what the thinking was behind it (if any) but it's been an unmitigated disaster for lovers of mayfly hatches and free rising trout. The way the little guys like to swim around and perch on plant stems makes them perfect targets for those hovering predators. They harvest them like cherry pickers. The poor bugs don't stand a chance.

One of my favorite little lakes in the Sierra's, Martis Valley, was ruined by their introduction. It used to teem with large wild browns rising to abundant hatches of Speckled Quills and Damselflies. The last time I was there the weed beds were reduced to hotels for stunted sunfish with very little insect life. The browns were gone, replaced by rainbows feeding mostly on midge larvae beyond the littoral zone out in open water. I haven't been back...

Kurt, insteresting observation about sunfish. I would think they could devour a ton of bugs.

Yes, especially species not particularly well adapted for hiding from them... Like Callibaetis.