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Photo#321943
Giant White Mayfly - Hexagenia

Giant White Mayfly - Hexagenia
Burke County, North Carolina, USA
July 1, 2009
Size: 35mm
Largest mayfly I've seen. Large hatch after sunset that continued for 2 hours after dark. White

Moved
Moved from ID Request.

Very interesting photo, John
The mayfly is almost certainly a Hexagenia subimago. The size is not unusual, but the color is extremely unusual. Some recently emerged Hexagenia can be a fairly light yellow, but they almost never completely white. I know of only one recorded exception to that.

Can you verify that it was as white as it appears in the photo? If so, can you say if this was the only one that was totally white? Was the hatch that you describe around a lake or a river? Do you have any other photos of this one (especially) or of other specimens taken at the same time? Even if those photos are poor or out of focus, I'd be very interested to see them.

 
All of the mayflies looked ve
All of the mayflies looked very similar, and were a little more off white than the flash/blackground make the posted photo appear.

check photos 4-8 in the album below for more photos.

http://picasaweb.google.com/iamjohnevans/HuntfishFallsWilsonCreek?authkey=Gv1sRgCITvuZLXnumXKQ#

 
Thanks, John
The other photos show a more typical coloration, with darker dorsal markings, etc. The species is probably H. limbata.

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