Blue-winged Olives
Baetis
Tiny Baetis mayflies are perhaps the most commonly encountered and imitated by anglers on all American trout streams due to their great abundance, widespread distribution, and trout-friendly emergence habits.
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This specimen appears to be of the same species as this one collected in the same spot two months earlier. The identification of both is tentative. This one suffered some physical damage before being photographed, too, so the colors aren't totally natural. I was mostly photographing it to test out some new camera setting idea, which worked really well for a couple of closeups.
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Closeup insects by Troutnut from Miscellaneous North Carolina in North Carolina
This specimen was sent to me for identification by Caleb Boyle, who did such a good job taking pictures of his mystery mayfly that, after identification, I asked him for permission to add it to this site, which he granted. This is great luck, since Neoephemera is a rare mayfly and it's unlikely I would ever have collected a specimen for the site myself.
Caleb collected it in mid-late May of 2004 either McDowell County or Ashe County in North Carolina, in a riffle less than two feet deep in a cold trout stream. He reared the nymph into a dun, whose wings appear in one of the photos below. He describes the specimen as follows:
Nymph exoskeleton:
Body: 16-17mm
Tails: 3, equal length, 13mm
Found on the surface of the water. The gill cover covers ab. segments 3-5.
Subimago:
Body: 16mm, dark brown/ olive
Tails: 3, equal length, 14mm
Wings: dark slate color, large hind wings.
I don't know to which species it belongs, but its size rules out the most common one in the genus, Neoephemera bicolor. It matches the size of Neoephemera purporea so that is a likely other possibility, but there are two other candidate species (Neoephemera compressa and Neoephemera youngi) about which I have no information, so I can't rule them out.
Disregard the camera, region, and exact date listed on these photos. I still need to update the site to accommodate user contributions which don't use my equipment.
Caleb collected it in mid-late May of 2004 either McDowell County or Ashe County in North Carolina, in a riffle less than two feet deep in a cold trout stream. He reared the nymph into a dun, whose wings appear in one of the photos below. He describes the specimen as follows:
Nymph exoskeleton:
Body: 16-17mm
Tails: 3, equal length, 13mm
Found on the surface of the water. The gill cover covers ab. segments 3-5.
Subimago:
Body: 16mm, dark brown/ olive
Tails: 3, equal length, 14mm
Wings: dark slate color, large hind wings.
I don't know to which species it belongs, but its size rules out the most common one in the genus, Neoephemera bicolor. It matches the size of Neoephemera purporea so that is a likely other possibility, but there are two other candidate species (Neoephemera compressa and Neoephemera youngi) about which I have no information, so I can't rule them out.
Disregard the camera, region, and exact date listed on these photos. I still need to update the site to accommodate user contributions which don't use my equipment.