**Mayfly Species Teloganopsis deficiens (Little Black Quill)**

Mayflies

Caddisflies

Stoneflies

Taxonomic Navigation -?-

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

» Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

» Class Insecta (Insects)

» Order Ephemeroptera (Mayflies)

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

» Genus Teloganopsis (Little black Quills)

» Species deficiens (Little Black Quill)

Common Names

Match	Common Name
	Little Black Quill
	Darth Vader
	Little Dark Hendrickson
	Dark Brown Spinner
	Dark Blue Quill
	Dark Hendrickson

Pictures Below ↓

Anglers in western Wisconsin, where these little flies hatch in good numbers on summer rivers, have termed them "Darth Vaders" because of the very dark color of their wings.

Until recently, this species was known as Serratella deficiens.

Where & When

Regions: East, Midwest

Time Of Year (?): June and July

Most writers say this species emerges in June and July, but Caucci and Nastasi in Hatches II report that it is important in the Catskills in the late summer and fall. The others might be referring to hatches in the Midwest, where the species is also prolific, or there may be some confusion between species.

Hatching Behavior

Time Of Day (?): Late morning.

The tiny duns take a while to break through the surface film, and then they linger on the surface before flying off. Despite their small size they can provide excellent fishing where they are abundant.

The angling literature says they hatch in late morning, and anglers familiar with the hatch confirm this, but they also report afternoon and evening hatches.

Spinner Behavior

These spinner falls are unimportant.

Nymph Biology

Current Speed: Slow to medium

Substrate: They do especially well in weedy streams.

Pictures of 1 Mayfly Specimen in the Species Teloganopsis deficiens:

Teloganopsis deficiens (Little Black Quill) Mayfly Nymph

View 6 PicturesThis nymph has tiny, barely detectable tubercles (

A few (not all) of the abdominal tubercles on this Ephemerella needhami nymph are circled. They are especially large in this species.

Tubercle: Various peculiar little bumps or projections on an insect. Their character is important for the identification of many kinds of insects, such as the nymphs of Ephemerellidae mayflies.) on its abdominal segments, and I could not find the maxillary palpi. I have tentatively guessed that it is Serratella deficiens.

Collected June 9, 2005 from the Bois Brule River in Wisconsin
Added to Troutnut.com by Troutnut on May 26, 2006

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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.

Nymph: 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.

A few (not all) of the abdominal tubercles on this Ephemerella needhami nymph are circled. They are especially large in this species.

Tubercles: Various peculiar little bumps or projections on an insect. Their character is important for the identification of many kinds of insects, such as the nymphs of Ephemerellidae mayflies.

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.

Leonard, Justin W. and Fannie A. Leonard. 1962. Mayflies of Michigan Trout Streams. Cranbrook Institute of Science.