Green Drakes

[Arlen]

Green Drake mayflies were hatching a few days ago on the McKenzie River in western Oregon. In my view mayflies are among the most delicate and elegant of the insects. The first image is of the "dun" phase, right after the molt from the nymph and emergence from the water. The second image is of the "spinner" phase, after the dun has molted once again a couple of days later. Spinners have clear hyaline wings and richer body colors, as well as being sexually mature and ready to to find a mate. After laying eggs in the water to complete the life cycle, it will then die. The adult, air-breathing phase lasts only a few days, but the juvenile nymphs will dwell in the water for a year.

Comments always welcome.

[wolfnowl]

Nice catch!  And not a duck in the bunch!    I still remember working on Lake Winnipeg back in the 70s, and during the mayfly hatch that year there were millions of them.  Everything that didn't move was covered with mayflies - sides of buildings, cars, trees, you if you stayed still too long.  Of course, since their life spans are so short there was very soon a problem of what to do with all of the bodies...

Mike.

[Arlen]

Thanks, Mike. As for Ducks, the best bet for finding those is to head over to campus. 

Great story about the mess the mayflies make around Lake Winnipeg. They are like that around the Great Lakes region too, where I lived years ago, but unfortunately the big mayflies were not on my radar at that time so I didn't pay attention. That species is among the largest of the mayflies, Hexagenia limbata, or "Hex" for short. We don't have nearly as many of those here in Oregon, but there are a few places where they occur in big numbers, like the Williamson River. They only live where there is a soft silty bottom, since the nymphs are in the "burrower" category and as the name implies they live in burrows during the day. But they are quite capable swimmers when they leave their burrows at night, as in the first picture below. The short-lived adults (2nd image below), at about an inch long not counting tails, are spectacular creatures.

[PeterAit]

Very nice! The (long retired) fly fisherman in me feels my fingers twitching!