Just received the following comments pertaining to this photo composite from Lloyd Gonzales this evening:

"...Jeffrey Back just might have unknowingly photographed the only known example of the male of Tortopus circumfluus Ulmer. That species was identified from females collected in Texas, and Molinari says this: ''Since the collection of the types (and only known specimens) prior to 1871, no conspecific specimens have been recorded again from Texas or other USA localities."

"Jeffrey's specimen does indeed appear to be Tortopus sensu Molinari. There is a question as to whether T. circumfluus Ulmer might be synonymous with Tortopus bellus Lugo-Ortiz and McCafferty from Costa Rica, but fresh specimens are needed to make that determination. A male would be a great find. From what I can see, the parastyli look too long to be Tortopus bellus but too short to be anything in Tortopsis."

"Could you please alert V. Belov at BG, say hello for me, and ask him to try to check if Jeffrey knows what he might have? I'd hate to have the prospect of the only specimen of T. circumfluus collected in the last 140 years go unexplored."

Followup comment:

"I decided to give my eyes a break after staring and squinting while trying to decipher the terminalia of Jeffrey's specimen. Then, it occurred to me to compare the place where he collected this specimen to the type locality."

"It turns out that Coryell County is a small county in east Texas that is immediately adjacent to the small county where the original type specimens were collected--Bosque County. The Brazos River forms the eastern border of Bosque County, and the Leon River (where Jeffrey's specimen was collected) joins with the Lampasas River to become the Little River, a tributary of the Brazos. Apparently, Jeffrey's specimen and the type specimens came from the same watershed and were collected very close geographically."

"The proximity is circumstantial, but it was a surprising coincidence (especially given the vastness of Texas)."

Moved from Pale Burrower Mayflies.

Moved from ID Request.

Moved from ID Request.