Troutnut.com Fly Fishing for Trout Home
User Password
or register.
Scientific name search:

> > Black & White Mayfly Nymph



Higherroad has attached this picture to aid in identification. The message is below.
View Full SizeView Full Size (1.6X larger)
Post Reply
Page:12
HigherroadMay 5th, 2014, 5:36 pm
Posts: 5I photographed this 1/4" nymph on a small mountain southeastern U.S. trout stream in April. What species is this?
TaxonMay 5th, 2014, 7:01 pm
Site Editor
Royse City, TX

Posts: 1350		Hi Higherroad-

Welcome to this site. That is a truly gorgeous photo. Although it might help if you identified it to the Southeastern state of origin, I suspect it to be a freshly molted nymph of Heptagenia marginalis.
Best regards,
Roger Rohrbeck
www.FlyfishingEntomology.com
HigherroadMay 5th, 2014, 7:23 pm
Posts: 5This was in Northern Georgia.
WbranchMay 5th, 2014, 7:41 pm
York & Starlight PA

Posts: 2733		How did you paint those little white bands so accurately on a little 1/4" long nymph. That is amazing.
Catskill fly fisher for fifty-five years.
HigherroadMay 5th, 2014, 8:41 pm
Posts: 5White Out.
WbranchMay 5th, 2014, 8:50 pm
York & Starlight PA

Posts: 2733		Oh, Cool! Thanks for sharing.
Catskill fly fisher for fifty-five years.
PaulRobertsMay 5th, 2014, 10:01 pm
Colorado

Posts: 1776		Wow! Stunning little may!
Jmd123May 5th, 2014, 10:31 pm
Oscoda, MI

Posts: 2611		That sure is a pretty little creature!

Jonathon
No matter how big the one you just caught is, there's always a bigger one out there somewhere...
WbranchMay 5th, 2014, 11:37 pm
York & Starlight PA

Posts: 2733		Mack wrote;

God is great !!! And he is the greatest artist of them all.


That is probably one of the wisest comments you have ever made on this forum.
Catskill fly fisher for fifty-five years.
TroutnutMay 7th, 2014, 12:41 am
Administrator
Bellevue, WA

Posts: 2737
God is great !!! And he is the greatest artist of them all. Our creativity stems from his work as an extension of everything we are.


On the contrary, science views things like this as the spectacular, inevitable result of nature left to run its own course. Just like mathematical fractals produce patterns more intricate than any artist could dream up, natural selection reshapes organisms in more varied and impressive ways than any one being could imagine, let alone control. Nature needs no guiding hand to impress.
Jason Neuswanger, Ph.D.
Troutnut and salmonid ecologist
MartinlfMay 7th, 2014, 11:08 am
Moderator
Palmyra PA

Posts: 3233		What a cool, cool photo! Thanks.
"He spread them a yard and a half. 'And every one that got away is this big.'"

--Fred Chappell
KonchuMay 8th, 2014, 11:13 am
Site Editor
Indiana

Posts: 505		Beautiful. This looks to me like some freshly molted Rhithrogena that I've seen from the SE. The spots on the femora aren't as prominent as usual, but I think I can make them out.
CrepuscularMay 8th, 2014, 11:44 am
Boiling Springs, PA

Posts: 923		Nice Higherroad! Thanks for posting this. It's definitely a new one for me.
PaulRobertsMay 8th, 2014, 10:32 pm
Colorado

Posts: 1776		I wonder what drove the development of such a pigment scheme? It has a story to tell.
EntomanMay 9th, 2014, 12:41 am
Northern CA & ID

Posts: 2604		There are several species out West noted for similar color schemes. Anecdotally, I've noticed they seem to inhabit the salt & pepper granitic substrate of many West Coast streams. There is one species of ephemerellid with virtually the same color scheme called Attenella delantala. The very distinctive marks had me stumped until Roger (Taxon) schooled me on it several years ago. I had never seen one before but they are supposedly fairly common out here.
"It's not that I find fishing so important, it's just that I find all other endeavors of Man equally unimportant... And not nearly as much fun!" Robert Traver, Anatomy of a Fisherman
PaulRobertsMay 9th, 2014, 3:17 am
Colorado

Posts: 1776		Thanks, Kurt. Here's A.delantala:

http://www.flyfishingentomology.com/forum/Replies_Display.php?t=0024
KonchuMay 9th, 2014, 2:05 pm
Site Editor
Indiana

Posts: 505		Various Drunella species worldwide show that scheme, too. And actually several baetids show it, too, such as Plauditus cestus et al.
EntomanMay 10th, 2014, 12:45 am
Northern CA & ID

Posts: 2604		Yes, the D. grandis subspecies are good examples.
"It's not that I find fishing so important, it's just that I find all other endeavors of Man equally unimportant... And not nearly as much fun!" Robert Traver, Anatomy of a Fisherman
JohnNYMay 14th, 2014, 8:37 am
Posts: 15Reminds me of the very young larvae of giant swallow tail butterflies.

Google images of "larvae of giant swallowtail butterflies "

They mimic the poop of small birds as they crawl around on the foliage of their food. It does not seem that looking like bird poop would help these guys UNDERWATER, but it's a thought.
PaulRobertsMay 14th, 2014, 10:13 pm
Colorado

Posts: 1776		Weirder things have happened!
Page:12

Quick Reply

You have to be logged in to post on the forum. It's this easy:
Username:          Email:

Password:    Confirm Password:

I am at least 13 years old and agree to the rules.

Related Discussions

TitleRepliesLast Reply
Re: Burrowing mayfly
In the Identify This! Board by Willmilne		5Mar 4, 2009
by Taxon
Ecdyonurus nymphs
In Ecdyonurus criddlei Mayfly Nymph by Jmw975		0
Re: hex nymph
In the Photography Board by Trtklr		4May 30, 2009
by Wiflyfisher
Re: Aeshna naiad
In the Identify This! Board by Millcreek		1Nov 28, 2017
by Jmd123
Gills
In General Discussion by Wbranch		0
Re: I.D. ing bugs
(2 more)

In the Identify This! Board by FISHN50		4Aug 26, 2011
by Creno
Re: Potomac White Fly Hatch - in progress
In the Mayfly Genus Ephoron by BrettB		1Sep 21, 2008
by GONZO
Re: Driving Home from Ithaca
In Fishing Reports by Willy		2Jun 19, 2007
by Martinlf
Re: Artists fixative for turkey tail?
In Fly Tying by Dryfly		3Nov 16, 2009
by RedQuill27
Re: cool trout article
In General Discussion by Smallstream		2Dec 18, 2007
by Martinlf