Red bug/brown bug (gold dress/blue dress)

[echuck66]

When I saw this spent mayfly in the water (Pine Creek gorge, near Ansonia), it was bright red in color, but looking at the picture, it appears brown.

Is this perhaps a March Brown, Quill Gordon or is it a Red Quill?

The fact that it was red in color, looking at it on my hand, but brown in the picture reminds me of the recent gold/blue dress thing on the Internet recently.

Thanks,

Charlie

 

[dryflyguy]

March brown spinner.
The blotching is a dead giveaway

 

[echuck66]

Any idea why it looked bright red in person, but the picture shows it as brown? Lighting conditions?

I was not the only one who saw them and commented on how red they were.

 

[redietz]

Color (and size) in a March Brown varies considerably from stream to stream, probably more than in any other mayfly. (That's why it took a long time for even biologists to recognize that March Browns and Gray Foxes were the same species.)

At any rate, it's neither a Red Quill nor Quill Gordon. Neither have the "stained glass window" effect on their wings. The Red Quill doesn't have striped legs, and has three tails.

I wouldn't say with 100% certainty that's a March Brown, though. There are a few other less common related bugs (such as Maccaffertium pudicum) that it could be, but if I were to make a bet, it would be on the MB.

(Color never turns out right for me when I take a picture and post it.)

 

[echuck66]

A quick google search for "rhithrogena morrisoni", a.k.a. March Brown (in the US), yielded a picture of a March Brown very similar to my picture.

If I were to bet, I'd also put my money down on it being a March Brown, which fits perfectly for when and where I saw it (upper canyon portion of Pine Creek, near Ansonia, PA - last week). The guys at Slate Run said March Browns were hatching in the lower canyon, but that the hatches were moving upstream (about 20 miles above Slate Run is where I was at)... they're probably in full bloom now that I'm back home.

Oh well, the caddis hatch that was going on while I was there was also great. I'm not sure I've caught more fish in one week's time as I caught last week. Lots of pretty browns and one big rainbow... perhaps my biggest to date on any tackle, but definitely the biggest 'bow on a fly to date.

Thanks,

Charlie

 

[redietz]

I can pretty much guarantee you that it wasn't Rhithrogena morrisoni (the western March Brown) because they don't exist in the Eastern US. Our March Brown is Maccaffertium vicarium if you want to google that. (Or the older name is Stenonema vicarium, you might come across that.)

There are several less common Rhithrogena species here in the east that it could be, however. The species impersonata is a possibility, but I can't find a picture to point you to.

In the end, though, it really doesn't matter all that much. They're all related and have similar habits. Just match the size and color, and you should catch some fish.

 

[shortrod2]

echuck66 wrote:
Any idea why it looked bright red in person, but the picture shows it as brown? Lighting conditions?

I was not the only one who saw them and commented on how red they were.

Yes pictures often don't show what we see.

Just know that the common name for the eastern march brown spinner is "The Great Red Spinner". They are famous for forming a mating cloud over the stream and then abandoning the idea and flying back to the trees.