Montana Field Guide

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Montana Field Guides

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- Kingdom - Animals - Animalia
  - Phylum - Spiders, Insects, and Crustaceans - Arthropoda
    - Class - Insects - Insecta
      - Order - Mayflies - Ephemeroptera
        
        Family - Ephemeridae - Ephemeridae
        
        Species - A Mayfly - Hexagenia limbata

A Mayfly - Hexagenia limbata

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Native Species

Global Rank: G5
State Rank: SNR

Agency Status
USFWS:
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BLM:

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General Description

These large tusked, burrowing mayflies as larvae, prefer soft-benthic sediments of slow large river depositional areas or lake bottoms. They come off in large numbers (swarms) about mid-July from Flathead Lake, Whitefish Lake and a few other lakes in Northwest MT.

Diagnostic Characteristics

Tusks that curve upwards and the frontal process of the head is rounded instead of forked, seperates this genus from the other Ephemerid genus, Ephemera that is found in Montana, and distinguishes it from the genus Ephoron in the Family Polymitarcyidae whose tusks curve downward.

Species Range

Montana Range Range Descriptions

Native

Observations in Montana Natural Heritage Program Database

Number of Observations: 42

(Click on the following maps and charts to see full sized version) Map Help and Descriptions

Relative Density

Recency

(Observations spanning multiple months or years are excluded from time charts)

References

Additional ReferencesLegend: View Online Publication
Do you know of a citation we're missing?
- Hendricks, P., S. Lenard, D.M. Stagliano, and B.A. Maxell. 2013. Baseline nongame wildlife surveys on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation. Report to the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation. Montana Natural Heritage Program, Helena, MT. 83 p.
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Citation for data on this website:
A Mayfly — Hexagenia limbata. Montana Field Guide. Montana Natural Heritage Program. Retrieved on April 23, 2024, from https://FieldGuide.mt.gov/speciesDetail.aspx?elcode=IIEPH37020