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Lateral view of a Female Hexagenia limbata (Ephemeridae) (Hex) Mayfly Dun from the Namekagon River in Wisconsin
Hex Mayflies
Hexagenia limbata

The famous nocturnal Hex hatch of the Midwest (and a few other lucky locations) stirs to the surface mythically large brown trout that only touch streamers for the rest of the year.

27" brown trout, my largest ever. It was the sub-dominant fish in its pool. After this, I hooked the bigger one, but I couldn't land it.
Troutnut is a project started in 2003 by salmonid ecologist Jason "Troutnut" Neuswanger to help anglers and fly tyers unabashedly embrace the entomological side of the sport. Learn more about Troutnut or support the project for an enhanced experience here.

Mayfly Species Leptophlebia nebulosa (Black Quills)

Where & when

Time of year : Early May through mid-June in Michigan; unknown elsewhere

This widely distributed but uncommon species generally hatches earlier than Leptophlebia cupida and is even more attracted to slow water.

In 39 records from GBIF, adults of this species have mostly been collected during April (28%), June (23%), May (23%), and July (23%).

In 9 records from GBIF, this species has been collected at elevations ranging from 3 to 3701 ft, with an average (median) of 660 ft.

Species Range

Physical description

Most physical descriptions on Troutnut are direct or slightly edited quotes from the original scientific sources describing or updating the species, although there may be errors in copying them to this website. Such descriptions aren't always definitive, because species often turn out to be more variable than the original describers observed. In some cases, only a single specimen was described! However, they are useful starting points.

Male Spinner

Described in Needham et al (1935) as Blasturus nebulosus
Body length: 10-12 mm
Wing length: 10-11 mm

This is a brownish black species with ringed abdomen and a pale brown cloud covering the tip of the fore wing. Face brown including antennae.

Thorax shining brown above and below, with somewhat paler sides, that area traversed by pale sutures. Fore legs reddish brown. Middle and hind legs yellowish. Wings hyaline with brown veins, and with a brownish cloud covering the apical third of the fore wing. Its straight inner margin lies one or two cells beyond the posterior fork of the radial sector. Costal cross veins faint except in the stigmatic area where they are crowded and irregular and slightly anastomosing. Hind wings wholly hyaline.

Abdomen brown, paler beneath, a little darker on segments 1 and 2 and again on 8 and 9; 10 a little paler than 9. Middle pale line very fine and partly interrupted. Oblique marks crescentic and isolated. Joinings of the middle segments whitish, giving the abdomen an obscurely ringed appearance. Tails pale brown, ringed with dark brown on the joinings. Middle tail one-fourth as long as the others.

Genitalia yellowish amber. Penes separated by a goblet-shaped cleft. Reflexed spur strongly bent and its dilated tip extending below the level of the cleft between the penes. Lobes of the forceps base separated by a sharply V-shaped cleft and subtruncate on their apices (see fig. 135).

This species seems to differ from cupidus (now a synonym of Leptophlebia cupida) by the apical brown cloud on the fore wings and by the more nearly uniform coloration of the abdominal segments. The alternating darker and lighter rings on the tails are very pronounced. The depth of color of the apical cloud of the fore wing varies markedly in different specimens.

Discussions of Leptophlebia nebulosa

Steamntrout
Posted by Steamntrout on Jun 14, 2017
Last reply on Jun 14, 2017 by Steamntrout
Looking at Purdue's May Fly Central it shows nebulosa being found in Canada's Far North, North East and North West as well as USA's North East, South East & Far West.

Start a Discussion of Leptophlebia nebulosa

References

Mayfly Species Leptophlebia nebulosa (Black Quills)

Taxonomy
Species Range
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