subimago

/ ˌsʌbɪˈmeɪɡəʊ /

noun

the first winged stage of the mayfly, with dull opaque wings, known to anglers as a dun, before it metamorphoses into the shiny gauzy imago or spinner See also dun 2 spinner

This is what is called the subimago, and precedes the imago or perfect state of the insect.

Perhaps the subimago in this genus of Ephemerids, as in certain others, is the permanent aerial state of the female.

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