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uffepuffe

Alot of bug photos from past weekend in sweden

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Alrighty then! The first fishing trip of the season is over and boy did I get alot of nice bug photos (since the fishing was lousy there were no fish to take photos of :) ). All bugs found in and around lakes which might be helpful in idenfitying them.

 

Here we go!

 

 

1. Dragonflies!

 

1a. Dragonfly nymf in water:

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1b. Dragonfly nymf on my tent on it's way to hatching. Notice how much better the colours on 1a shows than on 1b. Always try to take photos of the bugs in water.

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1c. Dragonfly half way trough hatching

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1d. Dragonfly just finished hatching inside (!) my friends tent.

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1e. Dragonfly drying it's wings on my backpack

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1f. Dragonfly nymf on tree about to start hatchin

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2. Mayflies!

 

2a. Mayfly nymf in water. The gill structure and the size (13 mm) makes me fairly certain that it's a Lepthophlebia Marginata, but not 100% certain.

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2b. Empty nymf shell, also probably from a Lepthophlebia Marginata

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2c. Several mayfly nymfs under a rock

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2d. Spent spinner, I am actually not sure which speices this one is. Could also be a Lepthophlebia Marginata but the colours seems abit to light.

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2e. The famous Ephemera Vulgata! The one we were there for!

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2f. This is one mayfly that got me a bit perplexed. I have actually no idea to which species this one is, it clearly has only two tails so it can't be the Lepthophlebia again. It's about 13 mm long and this one is probably a Dun. I took several more photos of this one if anyone want to see more to be able to identify it.

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2g. Another beautiful adult mayfly spinner stage, probably Lepthophlebia Marginata (?)

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3. Damselfly larva and caddis larva

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2f. This is one mayfly that got me a bit perplexed. I have actually no idea to which species this one is, it clearly has only two tails so it can't be the Lepthophlebia again. It's about 13 mm long and this one is probably a Dun. I took several more photos of this one if anyone want to see more to be able to identify it.

post-2830-1148293637_thumb.jpg

uffepuffe-

 

Would like to see more photos of it, but here is what I have come up with so far:

 

There are (10) families of Swedish mayflies: Ameletidae, Arthropleidae, Baetidae, Caenidae, Ephemerellidae, Ephemeridae, Heptageniidae, Leptophlebidae, Metrepodidae, Potamanthidae, and Siphlonuridae.

 

Selecting the families (having two tails in the winged stages) narrows the possibilities to Ameletidae, Arthropleidae, Baetidae, Ephemeridae, Heptageniidae, Metrepodidae, and Siphlonuridae.

 

Selecting families from the above pared list having species with a (minimum as short as 13 mm. and maximum as long as 13 mm.) body length, further narrows the possibilities to Ameletidae, (maybe) Arthropleidae, Heptageniidae, and Siphlonuridae, specifically:

 

Ameletidae – Ameletus alpinus, A. inopinatus

Arthropleidae – (perhaps Arthroplea congener, but I don't know its body length ranges)

Heptageniidae – Heptagenia dalecarlica, H. longicauda, H. sulphuea (, and perhaps Kageronia fuscogrisea, and K. orgiticola, but I don’t know their body length ranges)

Siphlonuridae – Siphlonurus aestivalis, S. alternatus, S. armatus, S. lacustris (, and perhaps Parameletus chelifer, and P. minor, but I don’t know their body length ranges)

 

The hind wing (not being small and narrow) eliminate Siphlonuridae.

 

The hind wing not having a sharply pointed costal projection eliminates Ameletidae.

 

The most likely reamining candidate appears to be Heptageniidae (Heptagenia). However, being unfamiliar with the body length ranges of either Arthroplea or Kageronia, I cannot entirely rule them out as possible candidates.

 

 

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Thanks alot Taxon. To my very limited knowledge the Heptagenia is found only in streaming water, correct? But there is however a small stream between the two lakes about 500 yards from the place where I found this mayfly in the lake so it could have hatched in the stream and ended up in the lake.... I will post som more photos later today.

 

The Fuscogrisea reaches up to 14 mm in length. The Arthroplea is VERY rare and according to my litterature it is only found in very few places thousand of miles up north from where we were fishing.

 

Would you agree to my guess that the nymfs are Lepthophlebia ?

 

/Ulf

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Thanks alot Taxon. To my very limited knowledge the Heptagenia is found only in streaming water, correct?

Ulf-

 

Yes that is correct. Somehow, I managed to miss your comment about all of the insects having been found in or around lakes. Siphlonurus are one of the few still water mayflies, and maybe the only one in the size range of your specimen, so in spite of the hind wings not being of the shape I expected for a N. American species, it was probably either Siphlonurus or Parameletus, which may also inhabit still water, as it is also in family Leptophlebiidae. Not sure, as we don't have it here.

 

Would you agree to my guess that the nymfs are Lepthophlebia?

To be candid, I had just glanced past them to find the adult mayfly that had you puzzled. However, I believe it comes closest to resembling our Stenacron, for both general body shape, and for gill shape. Leptophlebia is a crawler mayfly, and I believe your specimen has the body shape of a clinger mayfly. Also, the gills aren't really right for Leptophlebia, which are doubled and heart-shaped with long trailing tendrils. Your specimen has lamelliform gills, pointed, but not a combination of lamelliform and filiform, and also not doubled.

 

Of course, I realize you don't have Stenacron in Sweden, so perhaps it's Kageronia, one of your Heptageniidae genera about which I know next to nothing.

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Thanks alot Taxon! Here are two more photos of the adult mayfly:

 

post-2830-1148472590_thumb.jpg post-2830-1148472625_thumb.jpg

 

Having consulted my own litterature my guess would be either Siphlonurus Alternatus or Metretopus Borealis, but I am just guessing here! Both are stillwater mayflies and both has two tails....

 

When it comes to the nymf you are right, it looks much more like a stonclinger.... it COULD actually be the Arthroplea congener who is very simillar to the Heptagenia but resides in lakes. But that species should have hair on it's jaws and the once I found doesn't....

 

On this photo you will see it in the middle (rather bad photo) with (probably) two Lepthophlebia or Paralepthophlebia on each side

 

post-2830-1148473150_thumb.jpg

 

/Ulf

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Oh and also the Metretopus mayfly is called "the green eyed mayfly" here in sweden, looking at my photos it does look like it has green eyes doesn't it?

 

/Ulf

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Great photos uffe, did you see the dragons hatch? i watched one hatch on my desk a couple years ago. The nymph started shaking violently. It was in a petri dish. My girlfriend and I just came back from camping, having a coffee it all begun. We heard this tapping clicking noise and did not know what it was. It amazed bowth of us, when we figured out what was going on.

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Thanks Joe! The thing that amazed me was the amount of time they took to hatch! I watched a larva crawl up on a tree and find a spot to hatch, then he just sat there for a whole day and the morning after he had begun to hatch but then took forever to come out of the nymf skin totaly. And when they had finished hatching some sat for two days drying their wings and pumping blod into their abdomen slowly getting more and more colourful! I love dragonflies, they are very fascinating bugs! At least now I got alot of reference photos the next time I am doing a realistic dragonfly larva, but looking at the Aeschna larva I did a few months back I think I wasn't completly wrong with it.

 

/Ulf

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Thanks alot Taxon. To my very limited knowledge the Heptagenia is found only in streaming water, correct?

Ulf-

 

Yes that is correct. Somehow, I managed to miss your comment about all of the insects having been found in or around lakes. Siphlonurus are one of the few still water mayflies, and maybe the only one in the size range of your specimen, so in spite of the hind wings not being of the shape I expected for a N. American species, it was probably either Siphlonurus or Parameletus, which may also inhabit still water, as it is also in family Leptophlebiidae. Not sure, as we don't have it here.

 

 

Taxon, I have now spoken to several people from sweden and denmark both "amateurs" and real Entomologiest and it appears that the Heptagenia, and the Heptagenia Fuscogrisea in particular can live in lakes. Especially along shores with alot of stones and that normaly are hit with alot of winds. Most of the swedes I spoke to all identified the Nymf as a Heptagenia Fuscogrisea, and also the adult.

 

/Ulf

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I must agree with you on your last post there! Heptagenia Fuscogrisea is the only heptagenia-species found in lakes. I've often come across it, as you say, along rocky shorelines, and places with scattered roots and branches on the bottom. My experience with this mayfly, comes from fishing just north of Oslo/Norway.

 

You can use the colour-pattern on their heavy built legs, and their somewhat flat profile for easy identification!

 

I see both nymph pictures, and a dun-picture of the fuscogrisea among your pics'! :)

A nice, well-sized mayfly, which can produce good activity!

 

Andreas

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Ulf & Andreas-

 

Great. It seems that I did get the family right when I narrowed it down to Heptageniidae. However, I believe the scientific name is actually Kageronia fuscogrisea, at least according to the European Macro-Invertebrate Database.

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