Alainites muticus/Nigrobaëtis niger - Iron Blue
Nigrobaëtis niger (formerly classified as Nigrobaëtis niger) and Alainites muticus (formerly classified as Baëtis muticus) are very similar and
share the common name of the Iron Blue. The iron blue dun is much darker
than any of the other common upwinged flies. Its nymph is an agile darter
and occurs on chalk streams, spate rivers and fast-flowing brooks.
The dun
The dun emerges at the surface in open water, and hatches can be fairly
dense even on sunny spring days. Specific imitations have been devised, but
a general pattern is often acceptable in the rough and tumble of a spring
river.
The spinner
Iron blue spinners lays their eggs in the afternoon, and so they are
useful flies to imitate. The differences between the sexes are quite marked.
The female (above) is sometimes called the Little Claret Spinner, while the
male (shown below) is the Jenny Spinner.
Footnote: Baëtis is often written simply as Baetis (without the accent on the e) but as this is the scientific name given to a genus the capitalised form Baetis is used rather than baetis.
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