Golden Spinners

Mayflies

Caddisflies

Stoneflies

Scientific Names

Match	Scientific Name
	Anthopotamus distinctus
	Cinygmula subaequalis
	Ephemera varia

Like most common names, "Golden Spinner" can refer to more than one taxon. They're previewed below, along with 4 specimens. For more detail click through to the scientific names.

Mayfly Species Anthopotamus distinctus

These are sometimes called Golden Spinners.

Mayfly Species Cinygmula subaequalis

These are very rarely called Golden Spinners.

This is the only Eastern species of Cinygmula. It may produce fishable hatches in places but it is not a generally important mayfly.

Cinygmula subaequalis (Small Gordon Quill) Mayfly Nymph

View 10 PicturesThis nymph is missing a few gills, but is otherwise in good shape. It was the only one of its species which turned up in my sample.

Collected May 29, 2007 from in
Added to Troutnut.com by on June 4, 2007

See 1 more specimens...

Mayfly Species Ephemera varia

These are very rarely called Golden Spinners.

This is an excellent hatch of a different character than its Ephemera brethren. Rather than emerging in a flurry of activity within a week, the Ephemera varia flies may last for more than a month in a single place.

Ephemera varia (Yellow Drake) Mayfly Nymph

View 4 Pictures

Collected March 29, 2006 from in
Added to Troutnut.com by on April 6, 2006

Female Ephemera varia (Yellow Drake) Mayfly Dun

View 7 PicturesThis yellow drake dun hatched out of my aquarium over a month before her brethren in the wild are slated to emerge. She seems a bit small, and that might be the reason.

Collected May 13, 2007 from in
Added to Troutnut.com by on May 18, 2007

Female Ephemera varia (Yellow Drake) Mayfly Spinner

View 6 PicturesI found this female spinner ovipositing in a small stream. She came along while I was playing a trout -- every good bug seemed to do that last night! I didn't have my bug net, so I caught the trout in my landing net, released the trout, and caught the mayfly in my landing net. Her wing got a bit messed up from that.

Collected July 7, 2006 from in
Added to Troutnut.com by on July 8, 2006

Jargon Defined:

Dun: Mayflies have two adult stages. They first emerge from the water as duns (scientifically known as the subimago stage). They then molt into the spinner (imago) stage, in which they mate and die. Sometimes the word "dun" is confusingly used to refer to a brownish gray color in fly tying materials.

Nymph: The juvenile, underwater stages of mayflies, stoneflies, dragonflies, and damselflies and other aquatic insects whose juvenile stages are covered by hard exoskeletons. The word can also refer to the fishing flies which imitate these creatures, in which case it is used as a blanket term for flies imitating any underwater stage of an invertebrate (except for crayfish and leeches).

Ovipositing: To lay eggs.

Spinner: There are two winged stages of adult mayflies. They emerge from the water as duns, molt on land (usually) into their fully mature stage, spinners. As spinners, they mate, lay eggs, and die.