Tiny Baetis Spinner on Firehole

[Byron haugh]

A little friend on my car the day I was fishing the Firehole in the Park.
About a size 22!!!

[montana mike]

Nice and I wish was with you. Thanks for sharing.

[lastchance]

Good eyes for seeing that BWO and nice photo.

[Uncle Jesse]

Okay, I am still trying to learn even early on a Friday morning. What make that a spinner. In my mine I think of spinners are dead bugs floating on the surface with their wings splayed. I would have thought that insect was a Dun.

[JohnScott]

Jesse -

Thanks for asking. It motivated me to double check via a quick search on Bing. Follow the link for a fascinating series of pix.

http://www.troutnut.com/article/10/p...ing-to-spinner

Now follow this link for some great information on the mayfly life cycle.

http://www.troutnut.com/hatch/4/Inse...ptera-Mayflies

John

[Uncle Jesse]

Thanks John, that is very instructional. What is the approximate time frame from nymph to spinner? Then is death immediate after laying of eggs and after mating for the male?

[Steven]

Mayfly life cycle takes around a year doesn't it?
Death isn't immediate. You can have spinners flopping around a bit.

[rainbowchaser]

The time between molting into the spinner and mating followed quickly by death varies from species to species. I believe the range of times is from a few minutes to a few days.

[Byron haugh]

Mayfly life cycle takes around a year doesn't it?
Death isn't immediate. You can have spinners flopping around a bit.

Hummm...........Actually, the spinner stage is the most important stage. It is while a spinner that the insects mate and subsequently the females deposit their eggs in or on the water.

They become spinners after molting - usually in nearby trees, shrubs, grass, etc. By the way, they die because their mouthparts don't work as a spinner and they have no moisture in their bodies or food for that matter.

The "normal" mayfly lifespan (from nymph to fallen spinner) is in the neighborhood of one year. However, the lifespan varies among sub species.