Bug FAQPale Watery
Baetis fuscatus · Order: Ephemeroptera · Family: Baetidae
Pale watery mayflies (Baetis fuscatus) belong to the genus Baetis, which anglers call blue-winged olives. They are found worldwide, with the greatest variety in North America and northern Europe. The genus contains at least 150 described species, making identification tricky.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
Baetis mayflies are commonly known to anglers as blue-winged olives.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
They occur worldwide, especially abundant in North America and northern Europe.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
With over 150 described Baetis species, many look similar and can be confused with each other.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 7 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Oklahoma, Tennessee, Virginia, Wyoming, Kansas, Massachusetts, Arizona.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Same family (Baetidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baetis
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-23.