Ephemeroptera

Also known as the Mayflies, mayflies

Mayflies (also up-winged flies or up-wing flies, or drake-flies in the UK; shadflies or fishflies in Canada) are aquatic insects belonging to the order Ephemeroptera. This order is part of an ancient group of insects termed the Palaeoptera, which also contains dragonflies and damselflies. Over 3,000 species of mayfly are known worldwide, grouped into over 400 genera in 42 families.

AI overview

Mayflies are aquatic insects belonging to an ancient group of insects that also includes dragonflies and damselflies, with over 3,000 known species found worldwide. They matter because they represent a long-established lineage of insects and are distributed across numerous species and families, making them a significant part of aquatic ecosystems globally.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Species

mayflies

Ephemeroptera

ORDER

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumArthropoda
ClassInsecta
OrderEphemeroptera

Habitatfreshwater

Observations recorded1,977,226

蜉蝣目（学名：Phoebe）通称「蜉蝣」，又名螶𧎾，具有古老而特殊的體型結構，是最原始的有翅昆虫。和蜻蛉目同分为古翅下纲下，他们的翅不能折叠。全世界已知有超过3,000种蜉蝣目昆虫，分属于42个科的400多个属。其中约600种见于北美大陆。除南极外，蜉蝣类昆虫见于所有陆地地区。蜉蝣目昆虫是相对原始的昆虫，并且表现出可能存在于第一种飞行昆虫中的许多祖先性状，例如不能平折在腹部上的长尾巴和翅膀。虽然化石记录不完全，但有证据表明：泥盆纪(2.8亿年前至3.25亿年前)已有蜉蝣存在。成虫体长2.5～32毫米。生活史包括4个阶段：卵、稚虫、亚成虫和成虫。稚虫生活于淡水中，偶见于咸淡水中，具6足，足端具爪，身体由10个体节组成，其中一些体节具鳃；身体末端具2～3条纤细的尾。不同种的稚虫具不同的适应性构造，有的具适于挖掘的顎及附肢，有的种身体扁平，能在狭窄的空间移动，或适于附在水生生物上。

via GBIF

Research

1,322 papers

A new Gondwanan mayfly family from the Lower Cretaceous Crato Formation, Brazil (Ephemeroptera: Siphlonuroidea: Astraeopteridae fam. nov.).ReviewScientific reports · 2023Storari AP, Staniczek AH, Godunko RJDOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-36778-x
Why are mayflies (Ephemeroptera) lost following small increases in salinity? Three conceptual osmophysiological hypotheses.ReviewPhilosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2018Kefford BJDOI: 10.1098/rstb.2018.0021
Review of mayflies (Insecta Ephemeroptera) as a bioindicator of heavy metals and microplastics in freshwater.ReviewThe Science of the total environment · 2025Benhadji N, Kurniawan SB, Imron MFDOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.178057
Does land use and land cover affect adult communities of Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera (EPT)? A systematic review with meta-analysis.Environmental monitoring and assessment · 2022Gomes PGS, Lima EL, Silva SR et al.DOI: 10.1007/s10661-022-10352-w
Review of the Kimminsula-complex (Ephemeroptera, Leptophlebiidae).Zootaxa · 2022Kluge NJ, Vasanth M, Balasubramanian C et al.DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5212.1.1
Current contributions to the systematics of Thraulodes Ulmer 1920 (Ephemeroptera: Leptophlebiidae).Zootaxa · 2021Jacobus LMDOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5076.1.3
The subgenus Sinephemera Kluge, 2004 in China (Ephemeroptera: Ephemeridae: Ephemera Linnaeus, 1758).Zootaxa · 2024Lei ZM, Zhou CFDOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5517.1.1
Askola (Ephemeroptera: Leptophlebiidae): Association of Nymph of One Species and Evidence of Cryptic Species Using Molecular Tools.Neotropical entomology · 2025Campos R, Almeida LH, Bispo PCDOI: 10.1007/s13744-025-01274-6

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Wikidata facts

Image: Eintagsfliege fg01.jpg

Show 3 more facts

Commons category: Ephemeroptera
taxon name: Ephemeroptera
taxon common name: jętki

Sources (5)

via Wikidata · CC0

~33 min read

Article

24 sections

Contents

Description
Nymph
Subimago
Imago
Biology
Reproduction and life cycle
Flight
Ecology
Effects on ecosystem functioning
Distribution
Conservation
Taxonomy and phylogeny
Phylogeny
In human culture
In art
In literature
In fly fishing
As a spectacle
As food
As a name for ships and aircraft
Other human uses
Notes
References
External links

Mayflies have ancestral traits that were probably present in the first flying insects, such as long tails and wings that do not fold flat over the abdomen. Their immature stages are aquatic fresh water forms (called "naiads" or "nymphs"), whose presence indicates a clean, unpolluted and highly oxygenated aquatic environment. They are unique among insect orders in having a fully winged terrestrial preadult stage, the subimago, which moults into a sexually mature adult, the imago.