Everything about Ephemeroptera totally explained
Mayflies are
insects which belong to the
Order Ephemeroptera (from the
Greek ephemeros = "short-lived",
pteron = "
wing", referring to the short life span of adults). They have been placed into an ancient group of insects termed the
Paleoptera, which also contains the
dragonflies and damselflies. They are
aquatic insects whose
immature stage (called
naiad or, colloquially,
nymph) usually lasts one year in
fresh water. The adults are short-lived, from a few hours to a few days depending on the species. About 2,500 species are known worldwide, including about 630 species in
North America. Common names for mayflies include "dayfly", "shadfly", "Green Bay Flies", "Canadian soldier", and "fishfly" .
The mayfly belongs to group 1 taxa, or pollution–sensitive animals. This means if mayflies are in or around the water, the water should be of a good quality.
Naiads
The
naiad live primarily in streams under rocks, decaying vegetation, or in the sediment. Few species live in lakes, but they're among the most prolific. For example, the emergence of one species of
Hexagenia was recorded on
doppler radar along the shores of Lake Erie .
Most species feed on algae or diatoms, but there are a few
predatory species. The naiad stage may last from several months to as long as several years, with a number of
moults along the way. Mayfly naiads are distinctive in that most have seven pairs of
gills on the dorsum of the
abdomen. In addition, most possess three long
cerci or tails at the end of their bodies. (Some species, notably in the genus
Epeorus, have only two tails.) In the last aquatic stage, dark wingpads are visible. Developmentally, these insects are considered
hemimetabolous insects. A more casual and familiar term is incomplete
metamorphosis. Mayflies are unique among the winged insects in that they moult one more time after acquiring functional wings (this is also known as the alate stage); this second-to-last winged instar is usually very short, often a matter of hours, and is known as a
subimago or to fly fishermen as a dun. This stage is a favourite food of many fish, and many fishing flies are modelled to resemble them.
Adult
The lifespan of an adult mayfly can vary from just 30 minutes to one day depending on the species. The primary function of the adult is reproduction; the
mouthparts are vestigial, and the digestive system is filled with air. The wings are membranous (similar to a house fly's wings but with many more veins) and are held upright like those of a butterfly. The forewings are much larger than the hind wings. In most species, the males' eyes are usually large and the front legs unusually long, for use in locating and grasping females during mid-air mating. In some species, all legs aside from the males' front legs are useless.
It often happens that all the mayflies in a population mature at once (the hatch), and for a day or two in the spring or fall, mayflies will be everywhere, dancing around each other in large groups, or resting on every available surface. This happens in mid-June on the
Tisza River in
Serbia and
Hungary; this kind of mayfly is called the
tiszavirág (in Hungarian) or "tiski cvet" in Serbian which is translated as "Tisza flower". This natural phenomenon is called Tisza blooming. In certain regions of
New Guinea and
Africa, mayflies are eaten when they emerge en masse on a certain day.
Because of its short lifespan, the mayfly is also called
one–day fly in some languages —
French éphémère,
German Eintagsfliege,
Dutch eendagsvlieg,
Slovenian enodnevnica,
Swedish dagsslända.
Ecology
Both immature and adult mayflies are an important part of the
food web, particularly for carnivorous
fish such as
trout in cold water streams or
bass and
catfish in warm water streams. They don't feed (mouthparts are vestigial), and some species emerge, reproduce, and die in a single day. Males generally fly in swarms that undulate in the air 5-15 meters above the ground.
Conservation
The status of most species of mayflies is unknown because many species are only known from the original collection data. Four North American species are believed to be extinct:-
- Pentagenia robusta was originally collected from the Ohio River near Cincinnati, but this species hasn't been seen since its original collection in the 1800s.
- Ephemera compar was reported from the "foothills of Colorado". Despite intensive surveys of the Colorado mayflies, this species hasn't been collected in the past 50 years.
- The large blue lake mayfly, Tasmanophlebia lecuscoerulea, is listed as vulnerable.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Ephemeroptera'.
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