Ephemeroptera: Baetidae of Gunnison County, ColoradoBaetis notos Small Minnow Mayfly, Blue-winged OliveAllen and Murvosh 1987Updated 27 May 2025
DescriptionThese animals are 3-tailed, with a distinctive pattern of upside down dark U-shaped marks against a lighter background on the pronotum. The abdominal terga are dark with distinctive pale shapes.NotesThis is one of the fuscatus group of Baetis species.Good LinksOn this website:Introduction to Baetis Other Websites: Photos, Map, Museums, DNA - Barcode of Life Data System ReferencesAllen,RK and Murvosh,CM 1987 New Baetidae from the southwestern United States and northern Mexico (Ephemeroptera: Insecta), with notes. Canadian Entomologist 119, 1095-1099. PDFNames Baetis sp. C from Morihara and McCafferty (1979) Baetis notos. Quote from page 1098: "This species, known from only Arizona and New Mexico, belongs to the fuscata-group of species, and B. caurinus Edmunds and Allen, know only from the type locality in northern Oregon, is the only other western North American species that is unknown in the nymphal stage and belongs to this species group. Also, these species are strikingly different in coloration. Baetis notos has distinctive dark color patterns on the thoracic nota and abdominal terga, whereas B. caurinus is without thoracic markings, and the abdominal terga have only narrow purple anterior lines on some segments. Durfee,R and Kondratieff,BC 1995 Description of adults of Baetis notos (Ephemeroptera: Baetidae) Entomological News 106 (2) 71-74. PDF Abstract: "Male and female adults of Baetis notos are described for the first time. Males of this southwestern species are distinguished from other described species of the B. fuscatus group by the creamy white coloration tinged with yellow. Biological notes for this species are given." 
McCafferty,WP; Durfee,RS and Kondratieff,BC 1993 Colorado mayflies (Ephemeroptera): an annotated inventory. Southwestern Naturalist 38 (3) 252-274. PDF Quote from page 256: "This is a southwestern species that was described from larvae by Morihara and McCafferty (1979b) as Baetis sp. C. Allen and Murvosh (1987) subsequently named it B. notos." McCafferty,WP and Provonsha,AV The Mayflies of North America Species List (Version 12Jan2009) Here is the geographic range and synonyms: Baetis notos Allen & Murvosh, 1987 [MEX:FS;USA:NW,SE,SW]
* Baetis sp. C Morihara & McCafferty, 1979 (syn.)
Morihara,DK and McCafferty,WP 1979 The Baetis larvae of North America (Ephemeroptera:Baetidae). Transactions of American Entomological Society 105, 139-221. PDF Larvae are discussed as Baetis sp. C. Ward,JV and Stanford,JA 1990 Ephemeroptera of the Gunnison River, Colorado, USA. In: Mayflies and Stoneflies. Ed: Campbell,IC Kluwer Academic Publishers,215-220. PDF Discussed as Baetis sp. C. Zuellig,RE; Heinold,BD; Kondratieff,BC and Ruiter,DE 2012 Diversity and Distribution of Mayflies (Ephemeroptera), Stoneflies (Plecoptera), and Caddisflies (Trichoptera) of the South Platte River Basin, Colorado, Nebraska, and Wyoming, 1873-2010. U.S. Geological Survey Data Series 606, 257 p. PDF - caution 46MB Quote from page 19:"Remarks: The larvae of this species were designated Baetis sp. C by Morihara and McCafferty (1979). Later, Allen and Murvosh (1987) named it B. notos, and Durfee and Kondratieff (1995) described adult males and females from New Mexico. This distinctively marked species is more common in Southwestern North America (Durfee and Kondratieff, 1995)." |