willow fly

English

Alternative forms

• willowfly

Noun

willow fly (plural willow flies)

1. Any stonefly of the genus Chloroperla.
   • 1781, Richard Brookes, The Art of Angling, page 92:

     Willow Fly, comes on the Middle of August, or sometimes sooner, and continues tll the Dun Blue comes again. It has four Wings, which lie flat on the Back: the Belly of a dirty-yellow, and the Back of a dark-brown.

   • 1902, Western Field: The Sportsman's Magazine of the West:

     Locally, with the exception of the few days that the willow fly is plentiful, an autopsy even of fish seen feeding on surface flies will discover far more subaqueous food than flies.

   • 2013, Al Marlowe, Fly Fishing the Colorado River: An Angler's Guide:

     The usual colors—salmon, pink, and red—work well. Something that happens on the Colorado beginning in late May is the stonefly, or Willow Fly, hatch.