Ephemeroptera: Heptageniidae of Gunnison County, ColoradoHeptagenia solitaria(McDunnough) 1924Updated 31 December 2025
TSN 100621 Locations CollectedGunnison River, Cimarron Creek, West Elk Creek, Cebolla Creek, Dry Gulch, Steuben Creek (Argyle and Edmunds, 1962).Good LinksOn this website:Heptagenia elegantula Other Websites: Photos, Map, Taxon Identifier Numbers - from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility Heptagenia solitaria at Gbif Photos, Map, Museum specimens, DNA - Barcodinglife.org ReferencesArgyle,DW and Edmunds,GF 1962 Mayflies (Ephemeroptera) of the Curecanti Reservoir Basins Gunnison River, Colorado. University of Utah Anthropological Papers 59 (8) 178-189.Quote from page 183: "This species was found distributed between 6760 and 7495 ft. elevation. It appears to be restricted to the river with a few ingresses into side streams and is most abundant in very rapid water riffles. The three streams in which it attains some elevation all have a high velocity." Bedarik,AF and Edmunds,GF 1980 Descriptions of larval Heptagenia from the Rocky Mountain region (Ephemeroptera: Heptageniidae). Pan-Pacific Entomologist (56) 51-62. PDF 
 Edmunds Jr,GF and McCafferty,WP 1988 The mayfly subimago. Annual review of entomology, 33(1)509-527. PDF Quote from page 522: "The speed with which subimagos were able to right themselves after being placed on their side with wings contacting water varied immensely among subimagos of different genera observed (G. F. Edmunds,Jr. and T. J. Fink, unpublished). The results could be based on differences in hydrofuge capacity, differences in behavioral response among mayflies, or both. Siphlonurids (Siphlonurus, Ameletus, Parameletus) were slow to respond, and most of the individuals, especially of Siphlonurus, were entrapped on the surface. Heptageniids (Stenacron, Nixe, Heptagenia) righted themselves faster than the siphlonurids and almost always escaped successfully. Leptophlebiids (Paraleptophlebia) and ephemerellids (Ephemerella, Drunella) responded rapidly and escaped so fast that sometimes it was impossible to see if they righted themselves before taking flight" Gilpin,BR and Brusven,MA 1970 Food habits and ecology of mayflies of the St. Maries River in Idaho. Melanderia 4:19-40. PDF McCafferty,WP; Durfee,RS and Kondratieff,BC 1993 Colorado mayflies (Ephemeroptera): an annotated inventory. Southwestern Naturalist 38 (3) 252-274. PDF Quote from page 260: "This is a common species in the Gunnison River system, and except for Larimer Co. records is found on the western slope. Also see remarks for H. elegantula above." McDunnough,J 1924 New Canadian Ephemeridae with notes, II. Canadian Entomologist 56:113-122. Described as Heptagenia solitaria. 
Webb,J; McCafferty,W and Lehmkuhl,D 2002 The larval stage of Heptagenia adaequata. Entomological News, 113(5), pp.289-293. PDF Abstract: "Larvae of the poorly known western North American species Heptagenia adaequata are described for the first time based on material reared from the Saskatchewan River system. Diagnoses are provided for differentiating larvae of H. adaequata from other species of Heptagenia within its range, especially the common H. solitaria and H. elegantula, with which it might be confused." Wichard,W; Komnick,H and Abel Jr, JH 1972 Typology of ephemerid chloride cells. Zeitschrift für Zellforschung und Mikroskopische Anatomie, 132(4), pp.533-551. PDF Zuellig,RE; Heinold,BD; Kondratieff,BC and Ruiter,DE 2012 Diversity and Distribution of Mayflies (Ephemeroptera), Stoneflies (Plecoptera), and Caddisflies (Trichoptera) of the South Platte River Basin, Colorado, Nebraska, and Wyoming, 1873-2010. U.S. Geological Survey Data Series 606, 257 p. PDF - caution 46MB Quote from page 33: "Remarks: A widespread species in Colorado (McCafferty and others, 1993) and the Western U.S. (Bednarik and Edmunds, 1980) that can be common in the foothills region of the SPRB." The elevation range is 4,950-6,850 feet and the adults emerge from May-October. |