Facts

1. The stench from dead mayfly bodies is often overpowering (Dunn 1996).

2. Mayflies are covered with water repellent microhairs. The microhairs are important for allowing them to pass from an aquatic environment to air (Schlager 2004).

3. They have distinct emergence periods (Carde and Resh 2003).

4. Adult mouth parts are nonfunctional (Marshall 2006).

5. After leaving the mating swarm, some female mayflies fly onto the water and explode on contact thus releasing their eggs as their abdomen explodes (Marshall 2006).

6. After reaching adulthood, mayflies are totally preoccupied with the mating process (Dunn 1996).

7. All mayflies demonstrate an incomplete life cycle. This is because they do not undergo metamorphosis. Below is a general picture of a mayflies life cycle (Jerry Hadden's Guide Service 2010).

8. Development to the adult stage varies in time: a few months to as long as two years. The number of molts depends on temperature and water conditions.  During this time the nymph (larva) can go through as many as 45 molts, which is the process of casting off a bodily covering.  Surprisingly, Mayflies are the only insects that have fully function wings before adulthood and can molt after they have wings (Bumblebee.org 2012). Below is a series of images showing the molting process that mayflies undergo.

 

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