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Mayfly Species Maccaffertium ithaca (Light Cahill)

Pictures Below
  

Where & When


Regions: East, Midwest

Time Of Year (?): June through early September; peaks in late June

Preferred Waters: Medium to large streams

This is primarily an Eastern species, but a couple books report that it produces fishable action in the Midwest as well.

Hatching Behavior


Time Of Day (?): Often spread out all day long; compressed toward dusk in hot weather

This species emerges much more gracefully than Maccaffertium vicarium, so emerger patterns are not as important.

The duns are better to match, since they may drift for quite a while time to dry their wings and make a commotion getting off the water. Caucci and Nastasi report in Hatches II that their stomach samples verify this preference for the duns.

Spinner Behavior


Time Of Day: Late afternoon to dusk, depending on weather

Habitat: Riffles
The spinners 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.) to the water to lay their eggs.

Nymph Biology


Current Speed: Riffles and runs

Substrate: Gravel



Pictures of 4 Mayfly Specimens in the Species Maccaffertium ithaca:

Specimen Page:12
Female Maccaffertium ithaca (Light Cahill) Mayfly DunFemale Maccaffertium ithaca (Light Cahill) Mayfly Dun View 10 PicturesThis female looks very much like a male I collected a few hundred miles away a few days later, so I'm guessing it's the same species, which I believe is Maccaffertium mediopunctatum.
Collected May 23, 2007 from the Little Juniata River in Pennsylvania
Added to Troutnut.com by Troutnut on June 4, 2007
Maccaffertium ithaca (Light Cahill) Mayfly NymphMaccaffertium ithaca (Light Cahill) Mayfly Nymph View 9 PicturesThis specimen seems to be of the same species as a dun I photographed which emerged from another nymph in the same sample.
Collected May 29, 2007 from Paradise Creek in Pennsylvania
Added to Troutnut.com by Troutnut on June 4, 2007
Maccaffertium ithaca (Light Cahill) Mayfly DunMaccaffertium ithaca (Light Cahill) Mayfly Dun View 9 PicturesThis dun emerged from a nymph in one of the bowls on my table while I was sorting. I photographed it with the nymphal shuck (
Here's an underwater view of the pupal shucks of several already-emerged Brachycentrus numerosus caddisflies.
Here's an underwater view of the pupal shucks of several already-emerged Brachycentrus numerosus caddisflies.
Shuck: The shed exoskeleton left over when an insect molts into its next stage or instar. Most often it describes the last nymphal or pupal skin exited during emergence into a winged adult.
)
, and it seems to be of the same species as a nymph I photographed from the same sample.
Collected May 29, 2007 from Paradise Creek in Pennsylvania
Added to Troutnut.com by Troutnut on June 4, 2007
Specimen Page:12

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