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Mayfly Species Ephemerella needhami (Little Dark Hendrickson)

Pictures Below
This small and slightly noteworthy mayfly appears during the finest hours of the year. Ernest Schwiebert describes an Ephemerella needhami day in Matching the Hatch:

"It was a wonderul morning, with a sky of indescribable blue and big, clean-looking cumulus clouds, and the water was sparkling and alive. You have seen the water with that lively look; you have also seen it dead and uninviting in a way that dampens the enthusiasm the moment you wade out into the current."


I have not fished a needhami emergence, but the exquisite nymphs show up often (though never abundantly) in my samples.
  

Where & When


Regions: East, Midwest

Time Of Year (?): May-July

There are reports of this species producing fishable hatches in Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

Most authors say this hatch begins and peaks in late June and dwindles through most of July. However, in Mayflies: An Angler's Study of Trout Water Ephemeroptera , Knopp & Cormier list a different emergence date than other authors, stating that the hatch can begin in late May. I suspect this refers to the warmer climate of southern Pennsylvania, while others gave dates for the Catskills and Michigan.

Hatching Behavior


Time Of Day (?): Late Morning

Knopp & Cormier report that the male and female duns are different colors and vary from stream to stream. Ernest Schwiebert in Nymphs Volume I: The Mayflies: The Major Species reports that they take off from the water quickly after emerging, meaning nymph and emerger patterns might be more appropriate than dun imitations.

Spinner Behavior


Time Of Day: Evening

Habitat: Riffles and runs

Nymph Biology


Current Speed: Medium to Fast

Substrate: Usually vegetation, occasionally elsewhere.

This species has an unusually strong affinity for aquatic vegetation. Many authors have noted this and it is consistent with my samples as well.


Pictures of 9 Mayfly Specimens in the Species Ephemerella needhami:

Specimen Page:12
Ephemerella needhami (Little Dark Hendrickson) Mayfly DunEphemerella needhami (Little Dark Hendrickson) Mayfly Dun View 7 PicturesSee the comments for an interesting discussion of the identification of this dun.
Collected June 1, 2007 from the West Branch of the Delaware River in New York
Added to Troutnut.com by Troutnut on June 4, 2007
Ephemerella needhami (Little Dark Hendrickson) Mayfly NymphEphemerella needhami (Little Dark Hendrickson) Mayfly Nymph View 6 PicturesI photographed three strange striped Ephemerella nymphs from the same trip on the same river: this one, a brown one, and a very very striped one. I have tentatively put them all in Ephemerella needhami for now.
Collected June 9, 2005 from the Bois Brule River in Wisconsin
Added to Troutnut.com by Troutnut on May 26, 2006
Ephemerella needhami (Little Dark Hendrickson) Mayfly NymphEphemerella needhami (Little Dark Hendrickson) Mayfly Nymph View 5 PicturesThis specimen strikingly resembles another specimen from about 1300 miles away in the Catskills, which I tentatively called Ephemerella aurivillii. This one has much more prominent abdominal tubercles (
A few (not all) of the abdominal tubercles on this Ephemerella needhami nymph are circled.  They are especially large in this species.
A few (not all) of the abdominal tubercles on this Ephemerella needhami nymph are circled. They are especially large in this species.
Tubercle: Various peculiar little bumps or projections on an insect. Their character is important for the identification of many kinds of insects, such as the nymphs of Ephemerellidae mayflies.
)
. It may be that they're both the same species and I don't have my identifications straight.
Collected June 5, 2005 from the Long Lake Branch of the White River in Wisconsin
Added to Troutnut.com by Troutnut on May 24, 2006
Specimen Page:12

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