...  Does the shuck "skin" in fact retain the color of the body once removed or is it more transparent and subject to the color of the water or surrounding environment?

flextime-

It kind of depends on the type of insect you are talking about. The exuvia (cast nymphal shuck) of a mayfly tends to be extremely thin, retain no shape, and be somewhat hyaline in appearance and color. On the other hand, the exuvia of a dragonfly is thicker, retains its shape and some of its coloration. The exuviae of most other aquatic insects fall somewhere in between those two extremes.

Having said that, trailing shuck patterns are generally limited to mayflies, and to caddisflies, whose trailing shuck is (of course) the cast pupal skin. I believe that trailing shuck material no darker than a light tan provides the more realistic imitation, but others may have a different view.

Created: 03/09/2006   Last modified: 08/25/2006    www.FlyfishingEntomology.com