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Mayfly Genus Ephemera

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This genus of large mayflies boasts three species of great importance. Ephemera simulans and Ephemera guttulata, the Brown Drakes and Green Drakes, are both legendary for short-lived periods of blizzard-like hatches. The Yellow Drakes, Ephemera varia, have a slow and steady emergence period, providing consistent low-key action for several midsummer weeks.

Ephemera blanda is a very localized species and unimportant to most anglers. Ephemera compar, sometimes mentioned in older books as a minor Western hatch, is now considered to be extinct.

Several important characteristics vary between the three important species. Read about each one for details.

Nymph Biology


Most Ephemera species burrow into rougher substrate than Hexagenia nymphs do. They inhabit sand and fine gravel more frequently than firm silt, although they are found in those environments too.


Pictures of 21 Mayfly Specimens in the Genus Ephemera:

Specimen Page:123
Female Ephemera guttulata (Green Drake) Mayfly DunFemale Ephemera guttulata (Green Drake) Mayfly Dun View 16 PicturesIt's about time I got a green drake on this site!
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
Male Ephemera guttulata (Green Drake) Mayfly SpinnerMale Ephemera guttulata (Green Drake) Mayfly Spinner View 12 PicturesThis spinner was the only member of its species I saw all night during an incredibly thick and tricky mixed hatch on Penn's Creek a few days before the real start of its famous green drake hatch.
Collected May 26, 2007 from Penn's Creek in Pennsylvania
Added to Troutnut.com by Troutnut on June 4, 2007
Female Ephemera varia (Yellow Drake) Mayfly DunFemale Ephemera varia (Yellow Drake) Mayfly Dun View 7 PicturesThis yellow drake dun hatched out of my aquarium over a month before her brethren in the wild are slated to emerge. She seems a bit small, and that might be the reason.
Collected May 13, 2007 from Aquarium in New York
Added to Troutnut.com by Troutnut on May 18, 2007
Specimen Page:123

2 Underwater Pictures of Ephemera Mayflies:

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I lifted a rock in pursuit of a stonefly nymph that had scurried beneath it, and instead I found this Ephemera simulans burrowing mayfly nymph waiting to be photographed. In this picture: Mayfly Species Ephemera simulans (Brown Drake). From the Namekagon River in Wisconsin.
I lifted a rock in pursuit of a stonefly nymph that had scurried beneath it, and instead I found this Ephemera simulans burrowing mayfly nymph waiting to be photographed.

In this picture: Mayfly Species Ephemera simulans (Brown Drake).
StateWisconsin
LocationNamekagon River
Date TakenApr 16, 2004
Date AddedJan 25, 2006
AuthorTroutnut
CameraOlympus C740UZ
Shown Full Size
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In this picture: Mayfly Species Ephemera simulans (Brown Drake). From the Namekagon River in Wisconsin.


In this picture: Mayfly Species Ephemera simulans (Brown Drake).
StateWisconsin
LocationNamekagon River
Date TakenApr 16, 2004
Date AddedJan 25, 2006
AuthorTroutnut
CameraOlympus C740UZ

Recent Discussions of Ephemera

Green Drake Hatch Temp? 1 Reply »
Posted by NEMatt on May 23, 2014 in the species Ephemera guttulata
Last reply on May 24, 2014 by Entoman
Hi

I was looking for a water temperature range for the Green Drake hatch. Anyone know?
ReplyGD Shuck 10 Replies »
Posted by Martinlf on May 29, 2013 in the species Ephemera guttulata
Last reply on Jun 2, 2013 by Crepuscular
Jason's photo of a GD shuck suggests that at hatch time the backs of the nymphs may be a greyish or grey olive color. Possibly useful information, if this is an accurate surmise.
ReplyBrown Drake? 20 Replies »
Posted by Derdmann on Jun 19, 2011 in the species Ephemera simulans
Last reply on Jun 29, 2011 by TNEAL
Came across a mayfly on the Paint River by Crystal Falls, Michigan on June 17th. Is it a brown drake?
Thanks.
ReplyEmergence period of green drakes 5 Replies »
Posted by Beardius on Aug 1, 2008 in the species Ephemera guttulata
Last reply on Dec 5, 2008 by Beardius
Emergence periods for green drakes usually run for 7-10 days in most streams. However, there are streams in the east where emergence periods are prolonged by some of the nymphs being parasitized by Nanocladius and Epoicocladius midge larvae. In these streams, emergence may be prolonged to 21 days. Unparasitized nymphs emerge before parasitized nymphs, with each group showing separate peaks of emergence about a week apart. This is based upon my own research on green drake emergence in streams with these midge species.

My question here is this: does anybody know of streams that have this type of prolonged emergence (2-3 weeks) in NY, PA, MD, or WV?
ReplyGreen Drake Hatch Frustrations 7 Replies »
Posted by Billy on Jun 6, 2007 in the species Ephemera guttulata
Last reply on Jun 12, 2007 by GONZO
We were fortunate this past weekend to be on Pine Creek during the Green Drake hatch. The spinner fall was incredible. A question I have is why do we miss so many strikes and yet, using the same techniques, the ones we do catch and release practically hook themselves. We were getting strikes on Green Drake Duns and Cripples and Spinners.

One individual described it to us that after observing the trout underwater during a Green Drake hatch, many of the strikes pull a small part of the fly (wing, leg) underwater and they swirl and swallow it there. If that is true, then I can rationalize missing more than 18 fish this weekend. If anyone has observed this please post your observations. Normally we do not have such a great contrast in miss to hookup ratio.
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