Ephemeroptera: Heptageniidae of Gunnison County, ColoradoIntroduction to Cinygmula
Flat headed mayfly, White spotted flathead mayfly, Red Quill McDunnough 1933
Updated 5 June 2010
TSN 100557
The immature Cinygmula on the right was captured and photographed from a small tributary of the East River in early June 2007. The white spots on the head and back of abdomen are camouflage against the multi-colored rocks and gravel in the streams and rivers where they live. Notice just below the antenna you can see the corners of the maxillary palps sticking out of the side of their head. No other Heptageniidae in our area has this feature. Adult Cinygmula often have amber colored wings, however the color is lost in ethanol, so it is only useful in live or recently preserved specimens.
Provisional Species List
Good Links
On this website:
Key for adult male Cinygmula
Cinygmula par
Heptageniidae Introduction
Other Websites:
North American Cinygmula list from Mayfly Central http://www.entm.purdue.edu/entomology/research/mayfly/species.html#GenusCinygmula
References
Allan,JD 1987 Macroinvertebrate drift in a Rocky Mountain stream. Hydrobiologia 144, 261-268.
The author studied Cement Creek in Gunnison County during the spring, summer and fall of 1975-1978. He found that drift densities (number of animals per 100 m³) was 10 times higher at night. 24 hour totals approached 2000 animals/100m³ in mid-summer down to 500 animals/m³ in the fall. Quote from the abstract: "Ephemeroptera, especially Baetis, dominated the drift." He found that benthic density (number of animals/m² from streambed samples) was the best predictor of 24hr drift rate for Cinygmula spp. Adding discharge to the calculation (a stepwise regression) helped predict the number of Cinygmula in the drift.
Carlisle,Daren M; Clements,William H 2003 Growth and secondary production of aquatic insects along a gradient of Zn contamination in Rocky Mountain streams. Journal North American Benthological Society 22(4), 582-597. Abstract and entire paper
Clements,WH; Carlisle,DN; Lazorchak,JM; Johnson,PC 2000 Heavy metals structure benthic communities in Colorado mountain streams. Ecological Applications 10(2)626-638. Abstract
Quote from page 632: "In particular, abundance of the mayflies Rhithrogena robusta (Fig. 5b), Cinygmula sp.(Fig. 5c), and Drunella doddsi(Fig. 5d), and the stonefly Sweltsa sp.(Fig. 5e) was significantly lower at medium- and high-metal stations."
Colburn,T 1982a Aquatic insects as measures of trace element presence in water: Cadmium and Molybdenum. Aquatic Toxicology and Hazard Assessment: Fith Conference, ASTM STP 766, J.G. Pearson, R.B. Foster, and W.E. Bishop, Eds., American Society for Testing and Materials, pgs 316-325.
Colburn,T 1982b Measurement of low levels of molybdenum in the environment by using aquatic insects. 29, 422-428.
Jensen,SL 1966 The Mayflies of Idaho (Ephemeroptera). M.S. Thesis, University of Utah, Utah. 364 p.
Quote from page 151: "The follwing combinations of charaters serve to distinguish this genus from all other genera of Heptageniidae occurring in Idaho: Adults. (1) Basal segment of the foretarsi of male at least two-thirds as long as the second segment but never equal; (2) forewings usually brown or amber tinted, at least in the basal half, and with basal costal crossveins well developed (Figs. 63-64); (3) penes of male separated to base (Figs 88-93); and (4) subanal plate of female with a well developed V- or U-shaped postero-nedian emargination (Fig 73). Mature nymphs. (1) Three well developed cauudal filaments present; (2) gills on abdominal segments one and seven not enlarged or extending beneath the abdomen, and similar to those on the intermediate segments only smaller; (3) fibrilliform portion of gills absent or reduced to to a few tiny filaments (Fig 82); and (4) front of head distinctly emarginate medially (Fig 76)."
McCafferty,WP; Durfee,RS; Kondratieff,BC 1993 Colorado mayflies (Ephemeroptera): an annotated inventory. Southwestern Naturalist 38 3, 252-274. PDF
Quote from page 259-260, the discussion about Cinygmula par. "There is considerable confusion about the identification of Cinygmula species mainly due to the fact that larvae have not been adequately described and compared. Cinymula par and Cinygmula mimus seem often to be confused(see previous records above). It remains unclear as to what species the many references to Cinygmula sp. that appear in published ecological studies actually refer. However, C. par is apparently a high altitude species (it was taken by Dodds in headwater areas between 10,500 and 11,650 feet) that has been referred to under various epithets (See also Traver, 1935; Ward and Berner, 1980)."
McDunnough J. 1933 The nymph of Cinygma integrum and description of a new heptagenine genus. Canadian Entomologist 65:73-76.
McDunnough describes the genus Cinygmula in this paper.
Peckarsky,BL 1980 Influence of detritus on colonization of stream invertebrates. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 37, 957-963.
Peckarsky,BL 1983 Biotic interactions or abiotic limitations? A model of lotic community structure. In: Dynamics of Lotic Ecosystems. Eds: Fontaine III,Thomas D; Bartell,Steven M Ann Arbor Science, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 303-323.
Peckarsky,BL 1985 Do predaceous stoneflies and siltation affect the structure of stream insect communities colonizing enclosures? Canadian Journal of Zoology 63, 1519-1530.
Peckarsky,BL 1991a A field test of resource depression by predatory stonefly larvae. Oikos 61 1, 3-10.
Peckarsky,BL 1991b Is there a coevolutionary arms race between predators and prey? A case study with stoneflies and mayflies. Advances in Ecology 1, 167-180.
Slater, J.; Kondratieff, B. C. 2004 A review of the mayfly genus Cinygmula McDunnough (Ephemeroptera: Heptageniidae) in Colorado. J. Kansas Entomol. Soc. 77(2): 121-126.PDF
Stewart,KW and Szczytko,SW 1983 Drift of Ephemeroptera and Plecoptera in two Colorado rivers. Freshwater Invertebrate Biology. 2(3)117-131. PDF
Stitt,RP Rockwell,RW Legg,DE and Lockwood,JA 2006 Evaluation of Cinygmula (Ephemeroptera: Heptageniidae) Drift Behavior as an Indicator of Aqueous Copper Contamination. Journal of the Kentucky Academy of Science 67(2) 102–108. Abstract
Wipfli,MS, Hudson,J and Caouette,J 1998 Influence of salmon carcasses on stream productivity: response of biofilm and benthic macroinvertebrates in southeastern Alaska, U.S.A. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 55(6): 1503-1511 Abstract
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