Home | Species List | Bibliography

Introduction to the Mayflies (Ephemeroptera) of Gunnison County, Colorado

Updated 21 May 2007
The Baetis or small minnow mayfly to the right was caught in the Gunnison River. Common and abundant in Gunnison county and the entire US, this genus of mayflies form an essential basis to the river food web. As with many other mayflies in our area, Baetis lives crawling around the rocks of the streambed, grazing on the diatoms and algae that grow on the surface of the rocks.

This mayfly species also "drifts", or releases from the bottom to swim in the current. Of course foraging fish love this behavior, so Baetis and many other mayflies that drift are eagerly sought out as food by the variety of introduced and native fishes in our watersheds.

Notes

The scientific name is from the Greek Eøémepos which is the basis for the english word "Ephemeral". It means "enduring but a day" or short lived. Then add the suffix -optera which means winged or "has wings". Adult mayflies may only live for a few hours let alone a whole day!

Translations of terms used by Fishermen and Scientists

Subimago = Dun
Imago = Spinner
Exuvia = Shuck

Links

On this website:
Key to Adult Mayfly families

Other Websites:

References

Clements,WH; Cherry,DS; Cairns,J 1988 Impact of heavy metals on insect communities in streams: a comparision of observational and experimental results. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 45 11, 2017-2025.
     Working in the Clinch River of Russell County, Virginia and outdoor experimental streams, they measured population responses of macroinvertebrates to natural conditions and 12 µg of copper and zinc in the artifical streams. They used 6 replicates of substrate-filled trays everywhere and counted all the animals (no subsampling). Both stream mesocosm experiments and Clinch river sites showed similar results. They found abundance or total numbers of aquatic insects declined at all high effluent sites associated with the Clinch River coal-fired power plant, recovering 3- 4 kilometers downstream. Low levels of copper and zinc reduced species richness (number of different taxa) and total numbers as well as caused a shift in the species composition of dominant taxa. Metal contamination caused macroinvertebrate populations to shift from control (clean) sites dominated by Mayflies and Tanytarsini Midges to polluted sites dominated by Hydropsychidae caddisflies and Orthocladiinae midges.

Edmunds Jr.,GF; Jensen,SL; Berner,L 1976 The Mayflies of North and Central America. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, Minnesota. 330 pages pages.

Edmunds,GF; Tennessen,KJ 1996 Ephemeroptera. In: An Introduction to the Aquatic Insects of North America. 3rd ed. Eds: Merritt,RW; Cummins,KW Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, Dubuque, Iowa, 126-163.

Waltz,RD; Burian,SK 2008 Ephemeroptera. In: An Introduction to the Aquatic Insects of North America. 4th ed. Eds: Merritt,RW; Cummins,KW; Berg,MB Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, Dubuque, Iowa, 181-236.

Ward,JV; Kondratieff,BC; Zuellig,RE 2002 An Illustrated Guide to the Mountain Stream Insects of Colorado. 2nd ed. University Press of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado. 219 pages.

Wiggins,GB; Mackay,RJ 1978 Some relationships between systematics and trophic ecology in nearctic aquatic insects, with special reference to Trichoptera. Ecology 59 6, 1211-1220.