**Mayfly Genus Ecdyonurus (Western Ginger Quills)**

Mayflies

Caddisflies

Stoneflies

Taxonomic Navigation -?-

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

» Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

» Class Insecta (Insects)

» Order Ephemeroptera (Mayflies)

» Family Heptageniidae (March Browns, Cahills, Quill Gordons)

» Genus Ecdyonurus (Western Ginger Quills)

Species in Ecdyonurus
Ecdyonurus criddleiLittle Slate-Winged Dun	0	0
Ecdyonurus simpliciodesWestern Ginger Quill	0	0

1 species isn't included.

Common Name

Match	Common Name
	Western Ginger Quills

Pictures Below ↓

This fairly new genus holds some Western species that used to be in Nixe and were in Heptagenia before that. They are mentioned in books by those generic names. Ecdyonurus simpliciodes is especially important.

Hatching Behavior

These species hatch in or near the surface in calm water. Emergence is quite fast, but the duns may drift a while.

Spinner Behavior

Time Of Day: Dusk

Habitat: Riffles

The female spinners oviposit by flying over the water and dropping down to the surface to release some eggs, then taking off to do it again. They eventually fall spent (Spent: The wing position of many aquatic insects when they fall on the water after mating. The wings of both sides lay flat on the water. The word may be used to describe insects with their wings in that position, as well as the position itself.).

Pictures of 1 Mayfly Specimen in the Genus Ecdyonurus:

Ecdyonurus criddlei (Little Slate-Winged Dun) Mayfly Nymph

View 1 PicturesThis is an interesting Heptageniid mayfly since in western Montana it is only found in cold lakes, especially those in Glacier National Park.

Collected July 31, 2007 from Kintla Lake in Montana
Added to Troutnut.com by Bnewell on June 26, 2011

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Jargon Defined:

Duns: 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.

Emergence: The transformation of a nymph or pupa into the adult winged stage of an insect. The term may refer to the emergence of an individual, or the daily or yearly event in which all individuals of a species emerge.

Oviposit: To lay eggs.

Spent: The wing position of many aquatic insects when they fall on the water after mating. The wings of both sides lay flat on the water. The word may be used to describe insects with their wings in that position, as well as the position itself.

Useful References:

Arbona, Fred Jr. 1989. Mayflies, the Angler, and the Trout. Nick Lyons Books.

Caucci, Al and Nastasi, Bob. 2004. Hatches II. The Lyons Press.

Knopp, Malcolm and Robert Cormier. 1997. Mayflies: An Angler's Study of Trout Water Ephemeroptera . The Lyons Press.