Green Drakes in Michigan???

[troutbum421 0]

Just wondering what the ranges of Ephemera Guttulata and Litobrancha Recurvata are? Do they hatch in Michigan? If so, what rivers have good hatches?

[Taxon 0]

troutbum421-

 

As to Ephemera guttulata, no. As to Litobrancha recurvata, yes. Also confirmed on Ethan Bright’s Aquatic Insects of Michigan website.

 

As to which rivers Michigan rivers hold Litobrancha recurvata, once Ethan spots your post, I imagine he will be able to tell you. However, I suspect they’re pretty rare in Michigan, as I seem to recall Ethan asking for specimens to be sent to him on a posting in this forum a few months ago.

[steelie 0]

Good Day,

 

Hmmm.... Well we can sort of narrow down the rivers by looking at the counties identified as having specimens located within their respective county lines.

 

Lower Penninsula

Montcalm (SW MI)

Crawford (NC MI)

Grand Trverse (NW MI)

 

Upper Penninsula

Alger

Marquette

Baraga

 

Then look at what rivers in those counties may be of good habitat for said species. It should not take too long, and one could probably narrow it down at home. Remember, they are a burrowing maylfy. Some other information from Trout Nut:

 

http://www.troutnut.com/hatch/502/Mayfly-L...ark-Green-Drake

 

Steelie

 

[Ethan Bright 0]

As "steelie" indicates, Litobrancha recurvata occurs in Michigan. I've collected seen this species from at least 10 different localities in Michigan, both in northern and southern Michigan. Associated with cold-water trout streams, but also from springs no wider than 0.5 m. I often find nymphs with a red coating, the oxidation of ferrous iron-rich groundwater as it loses partial pressure when coming into the stream channel. I also commonly find nymphs in sandy and detrital substrates.

 

BTW, I found that Wang and McCafferty article, and I'll try to scan it and distribute it to those who are interested.

 

Cheers, Ethan

[Taxon 0]

BTW, I found that Wang and McCafferty article, and I'll try to scan it and distribute it to those who are interested.

 

Cheers, Ethan

Thanks, Ethan. I've PM'd you with my email address.

 

[Steeldrifter 0]

I dont doubt Ethan is correct...but I have to say. Liveing in Michigan my whole life and being a fly fisherman for the last 20 years, you would think I would have seen just about every hatch we have here in Michigan....but I have never seen a Green Drake on our waters. So they must be very very rare or common to just a very small section of a select river or two (much like our Ephoron Luekon hatch).

[troutbum421 0]

Thanks for the info guys. I was trying to figure out whether or not it would be worth it to tie.

[Ethan Bright 0]

Ephemera guttata does NOT occur in Michigan. I was referring to Litobrancha recurvata, which does occur in Michigan. (And, Litobrancha recurvata used to be known as Ephemera recurvata, until Litobrancha was raised to genus by McCafferty in 1971. This may be confusing , but at least there's literature by which one can reference ).

BTW, I was doing some surfing of fly-fishing sites, and apparently "Green Drake" is a confusing definition. It can refer to Ephemera guttata in the east, or several species of Drunella in the west. This is why I always communicate with scientific names; although confusing and difficult to memorize for some, it is always unambiguous as to the species in question (and it allows reference to scientific literature). Also, I don't fish enough. So, perhaps, it's time to standardize (at least in US English) the names with the scientific names. The Dragonfly Society of the Americas (especially by Dennis Paulson), and a group of stonefly researchers led by Bill Stark and Ken Stewart, have done this for dragonflies and stoneflies, respectively. You can call this group the "Green Drake Society."

Or, has this already been done?

Cheers, Ethan

[Taxon 0]

... BTW, I was doing some surfing of fly-fishing sites, and apparently "Green Drake" is a confusing definition. It can refer to Ephemera guttata in the east, or several species of Drunella in the west. This is why I always communicate with scientific names; although confusing and difficult to memorize for some, it is always unambiguous as to the species in question (and it allows reference to scientific literature). Also, I don't fish enough. So, perhaps, it's time to standardize (at least in US English) the names with the scientific names. The Dragonfly Society of the Americas (especially by Dennis Paulson), and a group of stonefly researchers led by Bill Stark and Ken Stewart, have done this for dragonflies and stoneflies, respectively. You can call this group the "Green Drake Society."

Or, has this already been done?

Cheers, Ethan

Ethan-

 

If anything, I'd say you've probably understated the confusion surrounding use of common name Green Drake. To the best of my being able to tell, the following are most of the scientific names that have been associated with common names containing Green Drake in flyfishing literature during the last 35 years or so:

 

Common Name / Scientific Name

American Green Drake / Ephemera guttulata

Autumn Green Drake / Drunella coloradensis

Dark Green Drake / Litobrancha recurvata

Eastern Green Drake / Ephemera guttulata

Great Dark Green Drake / Litobrancha recurvata

Green Drake / Ephemera guttulata

Green Drake / Drunella doddsii (Drunella doddsi)

Green Drake / Drunella grandis grandis (Drunella grandis)

Small Western Green Drake / Drunella flavilinea

Small Western Green Drake / Drunella spinifera

Small Western Green Drake / Drunella coloradensis

Western Green Drake / Drunella grandis ingens (Ephemerella glacialis)

Western Green Drake / Drunella coloradensis

Western Green Drake / Drunella doddsii (Drunella doddsi (Ephemerella doddsi))

Western Green Drake / Drunella flavilinea

Western Green Drake / Drunella grandis grandis (Drunella grandis)

 

With regard to standardizing common names for mayflies, to the best of my knowledge no effort in that regard has been undertaken.

[uffepuffe 0]

And just to confuse everything a little more. The Green Drake is the Ephemera Danica or sometimes even the Ephemera Vulgata in Europe. Everything just gets worse when you include us europeans

 

Ulf