Troutnut.com Fly Fishing for Trout Home
User Password
or register.

Mayfly Genus Caenis (Angler's Curses)

Taxonomic Navigation -?-
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
» Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
» Class Insecta (Insects)
» Order Ephemeroptera (Mayflies)
» Family Caenidae (Angler's Curses)
» Genus Caenis (Angler's Curses)
Species in CaenisNumber of SpecimensNumber of Pictures
Caenis amicaAngler's Curse00
Caenis hilarisAngler's Curse00
Caenis latipennisAngler's Curse00
Caenis tardataAngler's Curse00

8 species aren't included.
Common Names
Pictures Below
When the important hatches of Tricorythodes were first discovered by anglers, Caenis was given the credit. We now know that the Caenis mayflies are a different group, smaller and less common in trout streams, and they hatch in the evening instead of the morning.

They very rarely elicit selective feeding, but when they do they're very tough to match because they're often much smaller than size 28. This difficulty has earned them the nickname "Angler's Curse."
  

Where & When

Time Of Year (?): June through early September; best in June and July
Preferred Waters: Rivers and lakes
Most Caenis mayflies emerge in the evenings when other, larger mayflies are abundant on the water. This limits their importance.

Hatching Behavior

Caenis mayflies typically emerge, molt into spinners, mate, and oviposit within one hour.

Nymph Biology

Substrate: Silt, weeds
Every book says pools and stagnant back-waters are the prime habitats of these nymphs. This is probably true, but I have often found them in gravel, vegetation, and other habitats. They have operculate (
The operculate gills of a Caenis nymph.
The operculate gills of a Caenis nymph.
Operculate: Lidlike; usually used to describe the pair of enlarged elytroid gills (called the operculum) which some silt-dwelling mayfly nymphs like Caenis and Eurylophella have developed to shield their other gills from debris.
)
gills adapted to survival on silty bottoms.

9 Mayfly Specimens in the Genus Caenis:

Specimen Page:12
Caenis (Angler's Curses) Mayfly NymphCaenis (Angler's Curses) Mayfly NymphView 4 Pictures
Region: Upper Midwest
Collected Jun 8, 2005
Added May 26, 2006
Caenis (Angler's Curses) Mayfly NymphCaenis (Angler's Curses) Mayfly NymphView 3 Pictures
Region: Upper Midwest
Collected Jun 5, 2005
Added May 25, 2006
Caenis (Angler's Curses) Mayfly NymphCaenis (Angler's Curses) Mayfly NymphView 2 PicturesI confirmed the identity of this nymph by looking at it under a microscope to be certain of the shape of its gills and head.
Region: Upper Midwest
Collected Jan 31, 2004
Added Jan 25, 2006
Specimen Page:12

Your Thoughts On Caenis:

You must log in at the top of the page to post. If you haven't registered yet, it's this easy:

Username:     Email:

Password:    Confirm Password:

I am at least 13 years old and agree to the rules.
Top 10 Hatches
Top 5 Products
Top 5 Specimens
Recent Updates
Last update July 19th, 2007.
Check out my friend & fishing partner Brad Bohen's Hayward Musky Guides website for fly fishing like you've never seen before! --Troutnut
Misc Websites