**Mayfly Species Drunella flavilinea (Flav)**

Mayflies

Caddisflies

Stoneflies

Taxonomic Navigation -?-

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

» Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

» Class Insecta (Insects)

» Order Ephemeroptera (Mayflies)

» Family Ephemerellidae (Hendricksons, Sulphurs, PMDs, BWOs)

» Genus Drunella (Blue-Winged Olives)

» Species flavilinea (Flav)

Common Names

Match	Common Name
	Flav
	Small Western Green Drake
	Dark Slate-Winged Olive
	Western Slate Olive Dun
	Western Slate Olive
	Western Green Drake
	Dark Olive Spinner
	Slate-Winged Olive
	Blue-Winged Olive

The Flavs pick up about a week after the closely related but larger Western Green Drakes (Drunella grandis and Drunella doddsii) finish hatching on most Western waters.

Their hatches may be complemented by simultaneous hatches of two less prolific species, Drunella coloradensis and Drunella spinifera.

Where & When

Region: West
Time Of Year (?): July and August
Altitude: 4000-6000 Feet

They are reported in places from mid-June all the way through October, but they peak in most places sometime in July or August.

Hatching Behavior

Time Of Day (?): Flexible, but usually in the evening
Habitat: Quiet water adjacent to the fast-water nymphal habitat
Water Temperature: 55-57°F

According to Knopp & Cormier in Mayflies: An Angler's Study of Trout Water Ephemeroptera , Flavs emerge in the surface film rather than underwater like most other Drunella mayflies.

The Flav duns don't have as much difficult getting off the water as their larger brethren, but they still linger longer as duns than most mayflies and provide good dry fly action.

Spinner Behavior

Time Of Day: Late morning, or evening
Habitat: Riffles

In Hatches II, Caucci and Nastasi say the spinner falls occur in the evenings. However, in Selective Trout, Swisher and Richards say that most of the spinners fall between 9am and 1pm and a few fall in the evening. Anglers with experience to clarify this contradiction are encouraged to write their observations in the comments.

Nymph Biology

The nymphs occur in many habitats but they're most prolific in fast, rocky water.

Your Thoughts On Drunella flavilinea:

You must log in at the top of the page to post. If you haven't registered yet, it's this easy:

Underwater Pictures
Landscapes & Trout
Desktop Backgrounds
Fly Tying Contests^*

Articles & Links
Common Names
Video Clips
Alaska Pictures^*

New features!

Jargon Defined:

Duns: Mayflies have two adult stages. They first emerge from the water as duns (scientifically known as the subimago stage). They then molt into the spinner (imago) stage, in which they mate and die. Sometimes the word "dun" is confusingly used to refer to a brownish gray color in fly tying materials.

Nymphs: The juvenile, underwater stages of mayflies, stoneflies, dragonflies, and damselflies and other aquatic insects whose juvenile stages are covered by hard exoskeletons. The word can also refer to the fishing flies which imitate these creatures, in which case it is used as a blanket term for flies imitating any underwater stage of an invertebrate (except for crayfish and leeches).

Spinner: There are two winged stages of adult mayflies. They emerge from the water as duns, molt on land (usually) into their fully mature stage, spinners. As spinners, they mate, lay eggs, and die.

Useful References:

Arbona, Fred Jr. 1989. Mayflies, the Angler, and the Trout. Nick Lyons Books.

Caucci, Al and Nastasi, Bob. 2004. Hatches II. The Lyons Press.

Knopp, Malcolm and Robert Cormier. 1997. Mayflies: An Angler's Study of Trout Water Ephemeroptera . The Lyons Press.

Swisher, Doug and Carl Richards. 2000. Selective Trout. The Lyons Press.