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Two more bug questions.

1. On a PA limestone black quills of many sizes have manifested themselves this season. In early May, there were size 12 or 14 bugs on the water, and a few days later some size 16 black quills were spotted. They all were assumed to be Leptophlebia due to appearance and the time of emergence, though Ann Miller lists size 10-14 as the hook sizes. Has anyone observed Leptophlebia smaller than size 14, and if so what sizes?

2. Recently Telagonopsis deficiens showed up in its typical size 20. Other similar bugs are also present, though, in size 16 and 18, causing some confusion. Some believe these to be very dark Paraleptophlebias, while others have speculated thatTelagonopsis deficiens may come in sizes larger than size 20. Without photos, of course, actual identification is impossible, but has anyone noted size variablilty in Telagonopsis deficiens--do they ever reach size 18, or even 16?

All the bugs mentioned above had 3 tails.

Hi Lewis-

The following mayflies of genus Leptophlebia found in PA:

Species----EmergenceStart----EmergencEnd----SpinnerMinLen----SpinnerMaxLen
cupida-----mid-Apr-------------late-Aug-----------8 mm--------------12.5 mm
intermedia-------------------------------------------11 mm-------------9 mm ??
johnsoni---mid-Jun-------------early-Jul-----------9 mm--------------11 mm
nebulosa--mid-May-------------mid-Jun-----------11 mm-------------13 mm

Also, generally speaking, the females of a given species tend to be somewhat longer than the respective males.

Teloganopsis deficiens can apparently vary from 4.5-6 mm in adult body length.

Thank you, Roger; this is very helpful. So, if we use the shank length of a Tiemco 101 dry fly hook (hk = hook size) we have the following:

hk=mm:
8= 12
10=11
12= 9
14= 8
16= 7
18= 6
20= 5

It would appear that Leptophlebia can range from a size 8 (or slightly larger), down to a size 14, while Teloganopsis range from 18 to 20 (or slightly smaller).

Of course, hook sizes and angler's estimates of bug sizes are subject to a considerable variability, but it is clear that "black quills" come in many different sizes.

Louis...Sometimes the Little Mahogany and the Great Mahogany might look similar but are very different in size...Paraleptophlebia vs Leptophlebia...I wasn't there, but hey!?

I often wonder about all the books where we read about the so-called "super" hatches and there may be bugs out there that don't have that super-star status and we know little about them...Under the radar hatch.

The boys in Grayling would just tell you to tie on a Borchers and "forget about it!" :) A guide saying up there is, "When in doubt, tie on a Borchers."

Spence

right you are , Spence. And why not, with 8 20-25" fish taken in two days of Hendricksons on a size #14 Borchers?








Tight lines, Tim

Bumping this up as it relates to Eric's "August ephemerelid" thread. Roger notes Teloganopsis can vary from 4.5-6 mm. This seems close enough, especially if there is any margin of error.