Species group · Insects

Mayflies

WAnimals has 2 species of mayfly, spread across 2 families (Baetidae, Ephemeridae).

2 species

2 families

46 countries

167 parks

Ranges calculated from the entries that record the figure, not from all 2.

All 2 species of mayflies on WAnimals

Each one has its own full entry. This group does not replace them: it brings them together.

Green Drake

Ephemera danica

Large Dark Olive Mayfly

Baetis rhodani

2 Not Evaluated

No species documented in this group is genuinely at risk according to the IUCN, with the data available today.

Recorded in 46 countries. The ones with the most species in the group:

It belongs to the only insect order that passes through an intermediate winged stage, the subimago: it emerges from the water with wings and able to fly, but is not yet sexually mature and must moult once more.
From Green Drake
Together with stoneflies and caddisflies it forms the so-called "big three" of water-quality assessment: its presence indicates clean water and its disappearance, pollution.
From Green Drake
Mayflies, dragonflies and damselflies are the most primitive winged insects alive: they cannot fold their wings over the abdomen, a trait inherited from the Carboniferous.
From Green Drake
Mayflies are the only group of insects that moult after having wings: it emerges from the water as a subimago, a dull, matt winged stage, and a few hours later moults again to become the definitive adult.
From Large Dark Olive Mayfly
The adult has no functional mouthparts and no working gut: it lives only to breed and dies the same day.
From Large Dark Olive Mayfly
Its abundance is a classic indicator of water quality, and the biotic indices used to assess European rivers rest in good part on mayflies like this one.
From Large Dark Olive Mayfly