Skip to main content

#51: Mayflies

Litinsects #51: Mayflies

Mayflies are aquatic freshwater insects and belong to one of the most primitive winged insect lineages!

First off, what’s in a name? Mayflies’ common name comes from the fact that some species start “hatching” from the water in May. But their scientific name is much more interesting and accurate; this order is named EPHEMEROPTERA from the Greek “ephemera” for “lasting one day / temporary” and “pteron” for “wing”. A more fitting name would be dayfly, considering their adult lifespan... Most live less than 24 hours after emerging, the shortest adult lifespan of any insect!


-Mayflies have triangular-shaped wings that are held upright over their bodies when at rest (sort of like a butterfly) and have three long tail-like filaments. These characteristics, both of which make them easily recognizable, are probably traits that were present in the most primitive flying insects

-They are HEMIMETABOLOUS insects, meaning they go through incomplete metamorphosis, with multiple stages that look physically similar. The aquatic nymphs, also called NAIADS, may live up to a number of YEARS in the water, molting 10-50 times (more than most other insects) and feeding on algae or detritus

-Instead of molting from naiad straight to adult, mayflies have an extra developmental stage called a SUBIMAGO, which is winged but not yet sexually mature. This is the ONLY insect group to molt once again AFTER FUNCTIONAL WINGS ARE PRESENT. The final adult stage however lacks functional mouthparts... because they live such a short time, their sole objective is reproduction!

-An oft-seen phenomenon is the synchronized emergence of adult mayflies around spring or summer, with large mating swarms lasting for a few days before they suddenly all seem to disappear again. Considering the short adult lifespan, this makes perfect sense; after all it would be pretty disadvantageous to all emerge at different times and run the risk of not immediately finding a mate

-Mayflies are often used as indicator species. Because they are sensitive to pollution, their presence can often indicate the health of streams or rivers

And because I’m sure you were wondering: the shortest adult lifespan of any mayfly (thereby also the shortest of ANY insect species) is less than 5 MINUTES! Better hope there’s someone close by to mate with!

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

#4: Simple Eyes

Litinsects #4: Simple Eyes Yesterday I talked about compound eyes, the multi-faceted structures that most insects use to see the world 👀 But insects actually have another visual system as well, composed of simple eyes or OCELLI. Unlike compound eyes, ocelli are composed of only one structure which makes them comparatively “simple” although they are still very important. These are light-detecting organs consisting of a single lens with sensory cells. They can detect movement but don’t form complex images. “Ocellus” comes from the Latin word oculus, meaning eye. So these structures are literally “little eyes” Ocelli are located on the insect’s head, usually between or adjacent to the compound eyes. They are usually dome-shaped, somewhat shiny structures In most flying insects (such as flies, dragonflies, bees, etc.) there tend to be three ocelli in a triangle arrangement (see photo). Some terrestrial insects (like cockroaches) have only two ocelli ...
Post a Comment
Read more

#34: Insect Wings

Dragonfly wings Dipteran (fly) wing Monarch butterfly wing Lacewing wings Litinsects #34: Insect Wings Let’s talk wings. The ability to fly has existed in only 4 groups of animals: birds , bats , pterosaurs , and of course insects . The first three groups, all vertebrates, each evolved flight independently (in other words, they have no winged ancestor in common) and the wings replace a pair of limbs. Insect wings on the other hand, which first showed up around 400 million years ago, are not derived from legs but are completely separate structures. The big debate about the evolution of insect wings is whether they developed from pre-existing structures (like gills or extensions of the thorax) or were entirely new structures. There is very little fossil evidence documenting this evolutionary transition so no one has yet definitively answered this question... Insect wings attach to the second and third thoracic segments. At rest they may be held vertically over the back, horizontally ou...
Post a Comment
Read more