Gray-Winged Brown Quills
Like most common names, "Gray-Winged Brown Quill" can refer to more than one taxon. They're previewed below, along with 1 specimen. For more detail click through to the scientific names.
These are very rarely called Gray-Winged Brown Quills.
These are very rarely called Gray-Winged Brown Quills.
These tiny mayflies were once known by the names
Pseudocloeon carolina in the East and
Pseudocloeon turbidum in the West. They are now considered synonymous. With the new species name
turbida, these mayflies were also moved to the genus
Acentrella. The combining of these two species has made
turbida's distribution trans-continental. In places their numbers compensate for their small size and make for excellent hatches.
In the West,
turbida is more variable in size and appearance than its eastern iteration, in keeping with the large and varied regions it inhabits. It can run as small as 3.5 mm and as large as 5 mm, the larger sizes tending to be more brownish. It is often confused with the smaller broods of
Diphetor hageni, but its lack of hind-wings, exaggerated
turbinate (
This male
Baetidae dun has slightly turbinate eyes.
Turbinate: Shaped like a top or elevated on a stalk; usually refers to the eyes of some adult male Baetidae mayflies which are wider near the tip than at the base.) eyes (hence its name) and stockier build help to differentiate it. Though it ranges throughout the Southwest, its densest populations are found in Northern California and Southern Oregon.
They are often found on the water with a mix of other
Baetidae mayflies, making for very challenging fishing.
Male Acentrella turbida (Miniature Blue-Winged Olive) Mayfly Spinner
View 3 PicturesI would not like to have to match this hatch. These are the smallest mayflies I have ever seen. I used to think Caenis was the smallest adult mayfly in the west but these guys are about 4mm long. The male eyes are two toned, brown above and olive below. The abdomen is dark brown interspersed with light brown. The abdomen is clear for the anterior (Anterior: Toward the front of an organism's body. The phrase "anterior to" means "in front of.") 2/3rd and the remainder is white. The tails are twice as long as the insect. There is only one pair of wings.Collected
July 27, 2011 from in
Added to Troutnut.com by on July 27, 2011
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