Ephemeroptera: Ephemerellidae of Gunnison County, ColoradoIntroduction to the mayfly genus Drunella
Green DrakeNeedham 1905
Updated 2 February 2026
TSN 101365
Species List
Drunella coloradensis
Drunella doddsii
Drunella grandis grandis
Good Links
On this website:
Ephemerellidae Introduction
Other Websites:
Photos, Map, Taxon Identifier Numbers - from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility Drunella at GBIF
Photos, Map, Museums, DNA - Barcode of Life Data System
References
Allan,JD 1985 The production ecology of Ephemeroptera in a Rocky Mountain stream. Internationale Vereinigung für Theoretische und Angewandte Limnologie Verhandlungen 22, 3233-3237.
Allan,JD 1987 Macroinvertebrate drift in a Rocky Mountain stream. Hydrobiologia 144, 261-268.
Allen,RK 1984 A new classification of the subfamily Ephemerellinae and the description of a new genus. Pan-Pacific Entomologist 60, 245-247.
Allen,RK and Edmunds,GF 1962 A revision of the genus Ephemerella (Ephemeroptera: Ephemerellidae). V. The subgenus Drunella in North America. Miscellaneous Publications of the Entomological Society of America 3, 147-179. PDF
Colburn,T 1982a Aquatic insects as measures of trace element presence in water: Cadmium and Molybdenum. Aquatic Toxicology and Hazard Assessment: Fith Conference, ASTM STP 766, J.G. Pearson, R.B. Foster, and W.E. Bishop, Eds., American Society for Testing and Materials, pgs 316-325.
Colburn,T 1982b Measurement of low levels of molybdenum in the environment by using aquatic insects. 29, 422-428.
Dahl,J and Peckarsky,BL 2002 Induced morphological defenses in the wild: predator effects on a mayfly, Drunella coloradensis. Ecology 83:1620-1634. PDF
DeWalt,RE; Stewart,KW; Moulton,SR; Kennedy,JH 1994 Summer emergence of mayflies, stoneflies, and caddisflies from a Colorado mountain stream. Southwestern Naturalist 39 3, 249-256.
Edmunds Jr,GF and McCafferty,WP 1988 The mayfly subimago. Annual review of entomology, 33(1)509-527. PDF
Quote from page 522: "The speed with which subimagos were able to right themselves after being placed on their side with wings contacting water varied immensely among subimagos of different genera observed (G. F. Edmunds,Jr. and T. J. Fink, unpublished). The results could be based on differences in hydrofuge capacity, differences in behavioral response among mayflies, or both. Siphlonurids (Siphlonurus, Ameletus, Parameletus) were slow to respond, and most of the individuals, especially of Siphlonurus, were entrapped on the surface. Heptageniids (Stenacron, Nixe, Heptagenia) righted themselves faster than the siphlonurids and almost always escaped successfully. Leptophlebiids (Paraleptophlebia) and ephemerellids (Ephemerella, Drunella) responded rapidly and escaped so fast that sometimes it was impossible to see if they righted themselves before taking flight"
Gill,BA; Harrington,RA; Kondratieff,BC; Zamudio,KR; Poff,NL and Funk,WC 2014 Morphological taxonomy, DNA barcoding, and species diversity in southern Rocky Mountain headwater streams. Freshwater Science 33(1) 288-301.
Working in wadeable streams on the Front Range of Colorado, they found Drunella coloradensis, doddsii and grandis, with one cryptic Drunella species.
Havird,JC; Shah,AA and Chicco,AJ 2020 Powerhouses in the cold: mitochondrial function during thermal acclimation in montane mayflies. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 375(1790), p.20190181. PDF
Abstract: "Mitochondria provide the vast majority of cellular energy available to eukaryotes. Therefore, adjustments in mitochondrial function through genetic changes in mitochondrial or nuclear-encoded genes might underlie environmental adaptation. Environmentally induced plasticity in mitochondrial function is also common, especially in response to thermal acclimation in aquatic systems. Here, we examined mitochondrial function in mayfly larvae (Baetis and Drunella spp.) from high and low elevation mountain streams during thermal acclimation to ecologically relevant temperatures. A multi-substrate titration protocol was used to evaluate different respiratory states in isolated mitochondria, along with cytochrome oxidase and citrate synthase activities. In general, maximal mitochondrial respiratory capacity and oxidative phosphorylation coupling efficiency decreased during acclimation to higher temperatures, suggesting montane insects may be especially vulnerable to rapid climate change. Consistent with predictions of the climate variability hypothesis, mitochondria from Baetis collected at a low elevation site with highly variable daily and seasonal temperatures exhibited greater thermal tolerance than Baetis from a high elevation site with comparatively stable temperatures. However, mitochondrial phenotypes were more resilient than whole-organism phenotypes in the face of thermal stress. These results highlight the complex relationships between mitochondrial and organismal genotypes, phenotypes and environmental adaptation."
McCafferty,WP; Wang,T-Q 2000 Phylogenetic systematics of the major lineages of Pannote mayflies (Ephemeroptera: Pannota). Transactions of American Entomological Society 126 1, 9-101.
Mebane,CA; Dillon,FS and Hennessy,DP 2012 Acute toxicity of cadmium, lead, zinc, and their mixtures to stream-resident fish and invertebrates. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 31(6), 1334-1348. PDF
Needham,JG 1905 Ephemeridae. Bulletin of the New York State Museum 86:17-62, pl. 4-12.
Ogden,TH; Osborne,JT; Jacobus,LM and Whiting,MF 2009 Combined molecular and morphological phylogeny of Ephemerellinae (Ephemerellidae: Ephemeroptera), with remarks about classification. Zootaxa, 1991(1), pp.28-42. PDF
Abstract: "This study represents the first combined molecular and morphological analysis for the mayfly family Ephemerellidae (Ephemeroptera), with a focus on the relationships of genera and species groups of the subfamily Ephemerellinae. The phylogeny was constructed based on DNA sequence data from 3 nuclear (18S rDNA, 28S rDNA, histone H3) and 2 mitochondrial (12S rDNA, 16S rDNA) genes, and 23 morphological characters. Taxon sampling for Ephemerellidae included exemplars from all 25 extant genus groups and additional representatives from those genera with the highest diversity. Ephemerellidae appears to consist of three major clades. Ephemerella, the largest genus of Ephemerellidae, and Serratella were not supported as monophyletic, and each had representatives in two of the three major clades. However, the genera Drunella and Cincticostella were supported as monophyletic. Lineages strongly supported as monophyletic include a grouping of the Timpanoginae genera Timpanoga, Dannella, Dentatella and Eurylophella, and groupings of the Ephemerellinae genera Torleya, Hyrtanella and Crinitella and the genera Kangella, Uracanthella and Teloganopsis. The placement of the Timpanoginae genus Attenella fell within Ephemerellinae, based on molecular and combined data, but it grouped with other Timpanoginae based on morphological data alone. Further study and analysis of Ephemerellidae morphology is needed, and classification should be revised, if it is to reflect phylogenetic relationships."
Schmidt,TS; Clements,WH; Zuellig,RE; Mitchell,KA; Church,SE; Wanty,RB, ... and Lamothe,PJ 2011 Critical tissue residue approach linking accumulated metals in aquatic insects to population and community-level effects. Environmental science and Technology, 45(16) 7004-7010. PDF
Abstract: "Whole body Zn concentrations in individuals (n = 825) from three aquatic insect taxa (mayflies Rhithrogena spp. and Drunella spp. and the caddisfly Arctopsyche grandis) were used to predict effects on populations and communities (n = 149 samples). Both mayflies accumulated significantly more Zn than the caddisfly. The presence/absence of Drunella spp. most reliably distinguished sites with low and high Zn concentrations; however, population densities of mayflies were more sensitive to increases in accumulated Zn. Critical tissue residues (634 μg/g Zn for Drunella spp. and 267 μg/g Zn for Rhithrogena spp.) caused a 20% reduction in maximum (90th quantile) mayfly densities. These critical tissue residues were associated with exposure to 7.0 and 3.9 μg/L dissolved Zn for Drunella spp. and Rhithrogena spp., respectively. A threshold in a measure of taxonomic completeness (observed/expected) was observed at 5.4 μg/L dissolved Zn. Dissolved Zn concentrations associated with critical tissue residues in mayflies were also associated with adverse effects in the aquatic community as a whole. These effects on populations and communities occurred at Zn concentrations below the U.S. EPA hardness-adjusted continuous chronic criterion."
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) National Water Quality Assessment Data Warehouse (NAWQA) shows this genus present in Gunnison County. Data as of 1Sep2005
Winget,RN 1993 Habitat partitioning among three species of Ephemerelloidea. Journal of Freshwater Ecology 8 (3) 227-234.
Winget,RN; Mangum,FA 1996 Environmental profile of Drunella coloradensis Dodds (Ephemeroptera: Ephemerellidae) in the Western United States. Journal of Freshwater Ecology 11 2, 225-232.
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