Ephemeroptera: Heptageniidae of Gunnison County, ColoradoRhithrogena undulata
Small Western Red Quill, Red Quill(Banks) 1924
Updated 24 Spetember 2024
TSN 100591
Good Links
On this website:
Introduction to Rhithrogena
Other Websites:
Mayflies of Colorado distribution map (USGS) Coordinated by Boris Kondratieff
http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/distr/insects/mfly/usa/317.htm
References
Banks,N 1924 Descriptions of new neuropteroid insects. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology. 65(12):419-455, pl. 1-4.
Described as Epeorus undulatus on page 425, with an illustration (Fig 57) of the male genitalia (ventral view):
 
Edmunds GF Jr. 1952b Studies on the Ephemeroptera. Part II. The taxonomy and biology of the mayflies of Utah
Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, University of Massachusetts 399 pages.
Edmunds GF Jr. 1995 Habitat differences between northern and southern populations of mayflies of the western United States. Pages 171-176 in Corkum LD; Ciborowski JJH. Current Directions in Research on Ephemeroptera. Canadian Scholars' Press, Inc. Toronto. PDF
Abstract: "Several Rocky Mountain species of mayflies usually occur in prime trout river and lakes in the northern Rocky Mountain states, and the same species are found only in habitats not occupied by trout in southern Wyoming, Utah, Colorado and in some other states. Four or five species have similar patterns, The best known example is the widely distributed Ephemera simulans. Other species with variable but similar patterns are Rhithrogena undulata, Hexagenia limbata, Ephoron album, and possibly Baetis punctiventris. The evidence suggests that the mayfly populations are physiologically different between northern and southern waterbodies of the Rocky Mountains of the United States."
Copied from pages 172 and 173:
 
Jensen,SL 1966 The Mayflies of Idaho (Ephemeroptera). M.S. Thesis, University of Utah, Utah. 364 p.
Quote from page 197: "Banks (1924) described this species from a male imago collected in New Mexico. Traver (1935b) and Edmunds(1952b) provide descriptions of the adults. Of the nymphs, Edmunds (1952b:178) states concerning the description:
{Posterior margin of head moderately concave, otherwise identical with R. doddsi [R. hageni Eaton]}
Taxonomy and Biology: According to Traver (1935b), R. hageni [probably a typo, Jensen intended to say R. undulata] is a member of the jennuna-undulata species group, distinquished by lacking basal lateral spines on the penes of the male. The nymphs, however, are extremely difficult to distinguish from R. hageni and R. morrisoni (Banks).
Nymphs of this species are usually collected in large, silted streams at elevations of from 4,000 to 6,000 feet, where they live on rocks and debris in the slower water. "
McCafferty,WP; Durfee,RS; Kondratieff,BC 1993 Colorado mayflies (Ephemeroptera): an annotated inventory. Southwestern Naturalist 38 3, 252-274. PDF
Quote from page 262: "This species appears to be limited to the western slope in Colorado, and it shows considerable color variation throughout its range. It, as well as R. plana and R. vitta described by Allen and Chao (1987a) from Arizona, will likely prove to be variants of R. morrisoni (Banks). Rhithrogena morrisoni has one page priority over R. undulata (see Banks, 1924) and has been reported from Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. In addition, the first author has seen specimens from Idaho and Wyoming. "
McCafferty,WP and Provonsha, AV The Mayflies of North AmericaSpecies List (Version 8Feb2011)
Here is the geographic range and synonyms:
Rhithrogena undulata (Banks), 1924 [CAN:FN,NE,NW;USA:NE,NW,SW]
* Epeorus undulata Banks, 1924 (spell.)
* Epeorus undulatus Banks, 1924 (orig.)
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