Troutnut Forum

>

Get Bugs Identified

> Huge ephemeroptera

Petern	July 27th, 2013, 11:50 am
Posts: 4	A couple of weeks ago i was fishing on the Indian river in New York and discovered a very large insect on my trucks tire. It was so large i scooped it off with my trout net. It was about 4" long in the body with "antennae' 2"+. it managed to squirm through the net and released a stream of white liquid form its end. unfortunately I didn't get any pictures.
Taxon	July 27th, 2013, 3:10 pm
Site Editor Royse City, TX Posts: 1350	Hi Peter- Welcome aboard. There are no mayflies even approaching the body length describe. The largest N. American mayfly is the Ephemerid, Litobrancha recurvata, which attains a body length of ~40 mm (~ 1.5"). Leg pulling on this forum requires a tad more plausibility. :-)
	Best regards, Roger Rohrbeck www.FlyfishingEntomology.com
Petern	July 27th, 2013, 3:47 pm
Posts: 4	thanks for the welcome! I've enjoyed troutnut for several months, but this is my first foray onto the forum. i assure you i am not pulling any legs. my first reaction to this bug was that it was a large dobson, but after seveeral minutes i felt the wing position and body shape where unmistakenly , although groetesquely exagerated, mayfly in character. wish i had a photo. any idea what it else it may be?
Taxon	July 27th, 2013, 6:04 pm
Site Editor Royse City, TX Posts: 1350	Peter- any idea what it else it may be? What color was it? How many wings, 2 or 4? How were the held when not being used to fly, upright, out to the side, or folded back over the abdomen? Did it have any visible tails, and if so how many and how long were they? Did your body length estimate of 4" include the length of either antennae or tails?
	Best regards, Roger Rohrbeck www.FlyfishingEntomology.com
Petern	July 27th, 2013, 6:27 pm
Posts: 4	the wings were upright. its color was greyish brown. two wings that i recall. the abdomen and thorax and head were in proportion of a mayfly. no tail. the "antenna' were thick protuberances, not wirey so i'm using the word because they didn't seem like mandibles. the total length was close to 6" i would say. i was parked near a large eddy on a fast section of river 1/4 mile below a dam.
Crepuscular	July 27th, 2013, 7:23 pm
Boiling Springs, PA Posts: 923	The only insect in the NE that comes close to 6" would be a Phasmid. (Walking Stick). But even those are not quite that big. And the wings are certainly not held upright.
Troutnut	July 28th, 2013, 1:47 am
Administrator Bellevue, WA Posts: 2737	Are you sure it wasn't a large dobsonfly, perhaps with an injury that put its wings at a funny angle? I've seen stoneflies with upright wings plenty of times (due to injuries) so I wouldn't be surprised if it happens to a dobsonfly once in a while.
	Jason Neuswanger, Ph.D. Troutnut and salmonid ecologist
Petern	July 28th, 2013, 6:03 am
Posts: 4	thanks for your input. i'm satisfied that it was probably the LARGEST specimen of an adult male dobson that i've ever seen, or can find record of on the "web". the posture of this bug was not typical to a dobson, and i beleive the abdomen was longer in proportion than a typical dobson. also the "mandibles" did not curve in.the injury theory may be right on the money, since it never flew away. whatever it was it was quite impressive insect to see!
Taxon	July 28th, 2013, 11:13 am
Site Editor Royse City, TX Posts: 1350	Hi Peter- Some find this Aquatic Insect Recognition chart to be useful, as it allows one to compare the body lifestage outlines of most aquatic insect orders on a single screen. However, if your estimate of size (6 inches: 4 inch body plus 2 inch antennae) was not grossly exaggerated, what you saw it is more likely to have been some terrestrial insect.
	Best regards, Roger Rohrbeck www.FlyfishingEntomology.com

Quick Reply

Related Discussions

Title	Replies	Last Reply
Re: Caddis emerger question. In General Discussion by Opie610	6	Jan 8, 2013 by Martinlf
Re: itzy-bitzies! In the Identify This! Board by Wiflyfisher	6	Aug 9, 2007 by Martinlf
Re: Beatis or Calebeatis ?? In Beginner Help by Damsel	1	May 26, 2018 by Taxon
Re: Another sulphur for comment In Female Ephemerella invaria Mayfly Dun by Martinlf	1	Aug 21, 2007 by Gene
Re: Need help Identifying Mayfly? In the Identify This! Board by JC_in_VA	13	Jun 5, 2011 by Jmd123
Re: Biggest Mayfly In the Identify This! Board by Al514	3	Sep 17, 2007 by Troutnut
Re: Agnetina In Agnetina capitata Stonefly Nymph by GONZO	2	May 8, 2007 by Troutnut
Re: Mystery Pupa In Fly Tying by DSFlyman	4	Jan 21, 2009 by Taxon
Re: stupid question In Male Baetis bicaudatus Mayfly Nymph by Brian314	2	Feb 27, 2022 by Brian314
Umbrella hook Western March Brown Dun pattern In Fly Tying by Rgiffin	0

Troutnut.com is copyright © 2004-2024 Jason Neuswanger (email Jason). See my FAQ for information about use of my images. privacy policy