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Mayfly Genus Acentrella (Miniature Blue-Winged Olives)

Taxonomic Navigation -?-
» Genus Acentrella (Miniature Blue-Winged Olives)
Species in AcentrellaNumber of SpecimensNumber of Pictures
Acentrella turbidaMiniature Blue-Winged Olive24

7 species aren't included.
Common Names
Pictures Below
The only Acentrella species known to be important to anglers is Acentrella turbida. See its species page for distribution and timing details.

Hatching Behavior


Time Of Day (?): Early evening; sometimes all day

The nymphs are normally excellent swimmers, but they become much less mobile as they're emerging and dead-drift (Dead-drift: The manner in which a fly drifts on the water when not moving by itself or by the influence of a line. Trout often prefer dead-drifting prey and imitating the dead-drift in tricky currents is a major challenge of fly fishing.) helplessly to the suface. Considering that they then emerge and fly away quickly, this makes the nymphs the prime stage to match during this emergence.

Spinner Behavior


Time Of Day: Dusk

These species molt into spinners and mate the same day they emerge. The spinner activity usually comes at dusk, or even after dark.

Nymph Biology


Current Speed: Slow to Medium

Substrate: Rocks, logs, gravel, vegetation

Environmental Tolerance: Widely tolerant, but best in cold rivers

Pictures of 3 Mayfly Specimens in the Genus Acentrella:

Female Acentrella (Miniature Blue-Winged Olives) Mayfly DunFemale Acentrella (Miniature Blue-Winged Olives) Mayfly Dun View 3 PicturesI've lost the date information for this specimen and taken a guess.
Collected August 1, 2004 from unknown in Wisconsin
Added to Troutnut.com by Troutnut on January 25, 2006
Male Acentrella turbida (Miniature Blue-Winged Olive) Mayfly SpinnerMale Acentrella turbida (Miniature Blue-Winged Olive) Mayfly Spinner View 3 PicturesI would not like to have to match this hatch. These are the smallest mayflies I have ever seen. I used to think Caenis was the smallest adult mayfly in the west but these guys are about 4mm long. The male eyes are two toned, brown above and olive below. The abdomen is dark brown interspersed with light brown. The abdomen is clear for the anterior (Anterior: Toward the front of an organism's body. The phrase "anterior to" means "in front of.") 2/3rd and the remainder is white. The tails are twice as long as the insect. There is only one pair of wings.
Collected July 27, 2011 from the Touchet River in Washington
Added to Troutnut.com by Bnewell on July 27, 2011
Female Acentrella turbida (Miniature Blue-Winged Olive) Mayfly SpinnerFemale Acentrella turbida (Miniature Blue-Winged Olive) Mayfly Spinner View 1 PicturesHere is the female spinner of the tiny Acentrella turbida. You can see the coloration is quite different from the male.
Collected July 27, 2011 from the Touchet River in Washington
Added to Troutnut.com by Bnewell on July 29, 2011

Recent Discussions of Acentrella

acentrella nymph 20 Replies »
Posted by Goose on Nov 3, 2006
Last reply on Sep 3, 2011 by Oldredbarn
Hi Jason! Do you have a picture of the (acentrella-miniature BWO nymph) on the site? I've been fishing them and wanted a better idea of how they look.
Thanks,
Bruce
Reply

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