Male Cinygmula reticulata (Western Ginger Quill) Mayfly Spinner Pictures

 The lengths of the wing and body, measured with a caliper, are both 8 mm.

Keys in Needham's 1935 Biology of Mayflies point to either Cinygmula reticulata or Cinygmula gartrelli. IT seems to have “cross veins in costal half of fore wing only, slightly margined with brown” and “wings tinged withamber at base and along costal margin of both wings” (gartrelli) as opposed to “all cross veins of both wings faintly but broadly margined with pale smoky” and “wings entirely amber-tinged” (although there is a slight amber tinge throughout, just more pronounced in places) as in reticulata. However, wing length reported for reticulata (9 mm) is closer to this specimen than gartrelli (10 mm). Ventral (Ventral: Toward or on the bottom.) median marks are supposed to be “traces” for reticulata and “present” for gartrelli. Descriptions for both species involve semi-hyaline (Hyaline: Highly transparent, or glassy; usually refers to insect wings, especially those of mayfly spinners.) anterior (Anterior: Toward the front of an organism's body. The phrase "anterior to" means "in front of.") abdominal segments not present on my specimens. Distribution records suggest reticulate lives nearby, so I'm going with that, but I can't confidently rule out gartrelli.

This mayfly was collected from Mystery Creek #237 on August 1st, 2020 and added to Troutnut.com on August 18th, 2020.

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