Brown Drake Mayfly vs Blue Doctor Butterfly

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Brown Drake Mayfly Blue Doctor Butterfly
Scientific Name Ephemera simulans Rhetus periander
Order Ephemeroptera Lepidoptera
Family Ephemeridae Riodinidae
Size 14-20 mm 55-65 mm wingspan
Habitat Rivers & Streams Rivers & Streams
Diet Omnivores Herbivores
Regions North America South America (Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Bolivia)
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Brown Drake Mayfly

A large brownish mayfly with mottled wings that produces dramatic evening hatches on trout streams. Nymphs burrow in sandy and silty streambeds.

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Did You Know?

Brown drake hatches occur over just a few days each year, creating some of the most spectacular dry-fly fishing of the season.

Blue Doctor Butterfly

A large metalmark butterfly with brilliant metallic blue upperwings and distinctive red-spotted underwings with long tail streamers. It is one of the largest and most spectacular members of the family Riodinidae. Males are territorial and frequently seen perching on sunlit leaves.

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Did You Know?

Despite being a metalmark butterfly rather than a swallowtail, it has evolved long tail streamers on its hindwings through convergent evolution.