Thin-neck Cave Beetle vs Trico Mayfly

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Thin-neck Cave Beetle Trico Mayfly
Scientific Name Pseudanophthalmus parvicollis Tricorythodes stygiatus
Order Coleoptera Ephemeroptera
Family Carabidae Leptohyphidae
Size 4-5 mm 3-6 mm
Habitat Caves Rivers & Streams
Diet Detritivores Detritivores
Regions United States North America
Conservation Endangered Least Concern

Thin-neck Cave Beetle

A narrowly endemic cave beetle with a distinctively slender pronotum. It inhabits caves in the Appalachian karst region.

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Did You Know?

Its narrow neck (pronotum) helps it squeeze through tiny fissures in cave rock.

Trico Mayfly

A tiny mayfly that forms enormous morning spinner falls over calm streams and rivers. Males have distinctive white bodies with black thoraxes.

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Did You Know?

Trico spinner falls create such dense blankets of spent mayflies on the water surface that trout gorge themselves to satiation.