Mayflies

Ephemeroptera

Mayflies are tiny insects that love to live near water. They have delicate wings and are known for their short lives, sometimes just a day or two as adults!

Lebensraum: Wetlands

Aussehen

The Mayflies has delicate, often transparent wings held upright at rest, and a slender body that ends in two or three long, thread-like tails called cerci. They typically come in subtle shades of brown, grey, or greenish hues. Their unique winged subimago stage visually sets them apart.

ReichAnimaliaStammArthropodaKlasseInsectaOrdnungEphemeropteraFamilieEphemeridae

Mayflies

Kategorie

Insekten

Seltenheit

Common

Gefahr

1/5 · Sehr gering

Snaps

Mach den ersten Snap!

Interessante Fakten

Adult mayflies don't eat at all; they don't even have functional mouths!

Female mayflies can lay thousands of eggs in minutes, dropping them onto water!

Mayfly nymphs are pollution detectors; their presence means the water is clean!

Some mayflies have only two tails, while others have three, aiding balance!

Besondere Fähigkeiten

Mayflies can shed their skin one last time *after* developing wings, unique in insects, to harden their final adult body.

Mayfly nymphs have special feathery gills along their abdomen, allowing them to breathe underwater for years.

Mayflies can emerge from water in massive, synchronized swarms, helping them overwhelm predators and find mates quickly.

Maße und Details

Flügelspannweite: 2-50 mm
Größe: 2-30 mm
Lebenserwartung: 1-7 Tage
Fluggeschwindigkeit: 7 km/h
Anzahl der Beine: 6

Ernährung und Fütterung

Young mayflies (nymphs) eat tiny plants and decaying bits, while adult mayflies do not eat at all!

Altersunterschiede: Nymphs feed on algae and decaying matter; adults do not feed and lack functional mouthparts.

Hauptnahrung

algae
diatoms
detritus
plant fragments

Nahrungssuche

Foraging

Ökologische Zusammenhänge

eats

Brown Trout

Salmo trutta

Trout actively hunt both adult and nymph mayflies.

eaten by

Barn Swallow

Hirundo rustica

Swallows expertly catch flying adult mayflies mid-air for food.

hunts

Emperor Dragonfly

Anax imperator

Dragonfly nymphs are fierce underwater predators of mayfly nymphs.

eats

European Garden Spider

Araneus diadematus

Spiders often catch adult mayflies in their intricate webs.

Merkmale

Einzelgänger

Einzelgänger leben den größten Teil ihres Lebens allein und interagieren mit Artgenossen nur zur Paarung oder zur Aufzucht der Jungen.

Filtrierer

Filtrierer nehmen Nährstoffe auf, indem sie schwebende Nahrungspartikel und kleine Organismen aus dem Wasser filtern.

Pflanzenfressend

Dieses Merkmal kennzeichnet Lebewesen, deren Ernährung vollständig oder hauptsächlich aus pflanzlichem Material besteht.

Feuchtgebiet

Dieses Lebensraummerkmal kennzeichnet Arten, die in Feuchtgebieten vorkommen. Dies sind Landflächen, die dauerhaft oder saisonal mit Wasser gesättigt sind, darunter Marschland, Sümpfe und Moore.