Mayfly Marvels: Much More Than Fish Food

SENIOR WRITER

YOU HAVE TO believe that a male mayfly has the best pickup lines of any living creature. I mean, the dude has, like, a day — two max — to “round the bases,” so to speak, and it’s not like, “Oh, well, there’s always next weekend.”

Humor aside, the insect synonymous with — but not restricted to — the year’s fifth month, defines purpose and epitomizes determination. When you consider how much mayflies accomplish in a brief period and how much mayflies impact the fishing scene — more on that later — it’s truly a remarkable tale worth exploring.

THE PROFILE

Mayflies belong to the order Ephemeroptera and are part of the ancient insect group Palaeoptera, also containing dragonflies and damselflies. The taxonomy traces back to the Greek word “ephemera,” meaning short-lived, and “ptera,” referring to wings — appropriate, given the forthcoming life-cycle description.

According to the University of Florida’s Entomology and Nematology Department, mayflies have inhabited the earth for 300 million years. And talk about diversity: Purdue University’s Mayfly Central tells us that North America claims 658 of the world’s