It is known in the British Isles as the March brown mayfly, a name which is used in the United States for a different species, Rhithrogena morrisoni.

[3] It emerges as a subimago at the end of winter, and can be distinguished from similar species by a dark spot on the femur of each leg.

[6] R. germanica was first described by Alfred Edwin Eaton based on a single male imago collected from the River Rhine at Laufenburg, Switzerland.

[9] Further populations have been reported from Denmark, France, Czechoslovakia, and Poland; records from other areas may refer to other similar species, such as Rhithrogena sowai.

R. germanica can tolerate a small amount of pollution but requires high concentrations of dissolved oxygen, and is therefore found in large, clean, fast-flowing rivers.