Baetisca (Armored Mayflies) Mayfly Nymph Pictures

Mayflies

Caddisflies

Stoneflies

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

» Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

» Class Insecta (Insects)

» Order Ephemeroptera (Mayflies)

» Family Baetiscidae (Armored Mayflies)

» Genus Baetisca (Armored Mayflies)

I've only got blurry pictures of this small Baetisca nymph, because it was zooming around the container in a frenzy. Several characteristics, if taken literally, suggest that it may be Baetisca lacustris. However, it's very small and it's the only candidate lacustris I collected among several laurentina specimens, so it's possible this is just an underdeveloped early instar (Instar: Many invertebrates molt through dozens of progressively larger and better-developed stages as they grow. Each of these stages is known as an instar. Hard-bodied nymphs typically molt through more instars than soft-bodied larvae.) laurentina.

This mayfly was collected from the Upper Midwest on January 14th, 2004 and added to Troutnut.com on January 25th, 2006.

Video Clip

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	Swimming Baetisca Mayfly Nymph Starring: Baetisca Mayfly Nymph Shot: Jan 31, 2004 Added: Mar 31, 2006 Format: WMV file Dimensions: 320x240 Camera: C740UZ

The clumsy-looking mayfly nymphs of the genus Baetisca are surprisingly good swimmers.

Pictures

(Shown Full Size)

Here you can see the frontal projection on the head is not very well-developed.

CameraOlympus C740UZ

(Shown Full Size)

CameraOlympus C740UZ

(Shown Full Size)

This view shows that the dorsal projections do not extend above the height of the mid-dorsal hump.

This view shows that the dorsal (Dorsal: Top.) projections do not extend above the height of the mid-dorsal (Dorsal: Top.) hump.

CameraOlympus C740UZ

(Shown Full Size)

Same nymph as above, different view. This angle also slightly shows the brown median line on the bottom of the back of the abdomen, another characteristic of B. lacustris.

CameraOlympus C740UZ

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Jargon Defined:

Abdomen: The rear and usually the longest (ten-segmented in mayflies) portion of an insect's body, to which the tails are attached.

Dorsal: Top.

Instar: Many invertebrates molt through dozens of progressively larger and better-developed stages as they grow. Each of these stages is known as an instar. Hard-bodied nymphs typically molt through more instars than soft-bodied larvae.

Nymph: The juvenile, underwater stages of mayflies, stoneflies, dragonflies, and damselflies and other aquatic insects whose juvenile stages are covered by hard exoskeletons. The word can also refer to the fishing flies which imitate these creatures, in which case it is used as a blanket term for flies imitating any underwater stage of an invertebrate (except for crayfish and leeches).

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