| Map | FAQ |
Flyfishing Entomology |
|
Zoological Classification |
| For purposes of illustration, this is how taxonomists classify the Dark Green Drake, which is the flyfishers' name for a particular species of mayfly. |
| Category: Taxon |
| Kingdom: Anamalia (animal) |
| Phylum: Arthropoda (segmented invertebrate with jointed legs) |
| Subphylum: Hexapoda (six legged) |
| Class: Insecta (insect, three major body regions) |
| Subclass: Pterygota ( winged insect) |
| Superorder: Paleoptera (non-twisting wings) |
| Order: Ephemeroptera (mayfly) |
| Suborder: Furcatergaila (fork-gilled) |
| Infraorder: Scapphodonta (burrower) |
| Family: Ephemeridae (common burrower) |
| Genus: Litobrancha |
| Species: recurvata |
| The system of
classification tells us our Dark Green Drake is an animal; has a segmented body; has
segmented legs; has six legs; is winged (as an adult); has old style wings
(unable to twist at base); is a mayfly;
has forked gills; is a burrower; is a common burrower. Only the last two levels of identification (genus and species) comprise the scientific name. Convention calls for the scientific name to appear in italics, for the genus to start with a capital letter, and for the species to start with a lower case letter. In our example, this would be Litobrancha recurvata. |
Created: 08/12/2004 Last modified: 04/26/2008 www.FlyfishingEntomology.com