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Lateral view of a Male Baetis (Baetidae) (Blue-Winged Olive) Mayfly Dun from Mystery Creek #43 in New York
Blue-winged Olives
Baetis

Tiny Baetis mayflies are perhaps the most commonly encountered and imitated by anglers on all American trout streams due to their great abundance, widespread distribution, and trout-friendly emergence habits.

Dorsal view of a Holocentropus (Polycentropodidae) Caddisfly Larva from the Yakima River in Washington
This one seems to tentatively key to Holocentropus, although I can't make out the anal spines in Couplet 7 of the Key to Genera of Polycentropodidae Larvae nor the dark bands in Couplet 4 of the Key to Genera of Polycentropodidae Larvae, making me wonder if I went wrong somewhere in keying it out. I don't see where that could have happened, though. It might also be that it's a very immature larva and doesn't possess all the identifying characteristics in the key yet. If Holocentropus is correct, then Holocentropus flavus and Holocentropus interruptus are the two likely possibilities based on range, but I was not able to find a description of their larvae.
27" brown trout, my largest ever. It was the sub-dominant fish in its pool. After this, I hooked the bigger one, but I couldn't land it.
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Male Drunella flavilinea (Flav) Mayfly Dun Pictures

This dun is smaller than would normally be expected for Drunella flavilinea, but it seems to fit the physical description of that species fairly well. I wasn't sure from the dun pictures alone, so I was hoping it would molt into a spinner. It never made it out of the dun's shuck, but it did begin the process, which allowed me with great care to tease out the last couple abdominal segments of the spinner from the still tightly attached dun shuck, enabling a more confident ID based on the shape of the spinner's penes and sub-genital plate. I also collected a nymph of flavilinea in the same river on the same evening, as well as a shed exuvium that looked large enough to belong to an emerging dun.

The other possibility I considered for a while based on the dun was Drunella pelosa, which would be the right size, but the other characteristics don't fit.

Ruler view of a Male Drunella flavilinea (Ephemerellidae) (Flav) Mayfly Dun from the Cedar River in Washington The smallest ruler marks are 1 mm.
Male Drunella flavilinea (Ephemerellidae) (Flav) Mayfly Dun from the Cedar River in Washington
Male Drunella flavilinea (Ephemerellidae) (Flav) Mayfly Dun from the Cedar River in Washington
Dorsal view of a Male Drunella flavilinea (Ephemerellidae) (Flav) Mayfly Dun from the Cedar River in Washington
Ventral view of a Male Drunella flavilinea (Ephemerellidae) (Flav) Mayfly Dun from the Cedar River in Washington
Male Drunella flavilinea (Ephemerellidae) (Flav) Mayfly Dun from the Cedar River in Washington
Male Drunella flavilinea (Ephemerellidae) (Flav) Mayfly Dun from the Cedar River in Washington
Lateral view of a Male Drunella flavilinea (Ephemerellidae) (Flav) Mayfly Dun from the Cedar River in Washington
Male Drunella flavilinea (Ephemerellidae) (Flav) Mayfly Dun from the Cedar River in Washington
Artistic view of a Male Drunella flavilinea (Ephemerellidae) (Flav) Mayfly Dun from the Cedar River in Washington
Penes and claspers extracted after the specimen partly molted to a spinner and then expired.They dried out a little bit and were rehydraded for the picture.

Male Drunella flavilinea (Ephemerellidae) (Flav) Mayfly Dun from the Cedar River in Washington
Penes and claspers post-spinner-molt, further dissected and separated to show the shapes.

Male Drunella flavilinea (Ephemerellidae) (Flav) Mayfly Dun from the Cedar River in Washington

This mayfly was collected from the Cedar River in Washington on July 2nd, 2021 and added to Troutnut.com by Troutnut on July 4th, 2021.


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Male Drunella flavilinea (Flav) Mayfly Dun Pictures

Collection details
Location: Cedar River, Washington
Date: July 2nd, 2021
Added to site: July 4th, 2021
Author: Troutnut
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