Ephemeridae is a family of

mayflies Mayflies (also known as shadflies or fishflies in Canada and the upper Midwestern United States, as Canadian soldiers in the American Great Lakes region, and as up-winged flies in the United Kingdom) are aquatic insects belonging to the order ...

with about 150 described species found throughout the world except

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

Oceania Oceania ( , ) is a region, geographical region including Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Outside of the English-speaking world, Oceania is generally considered a continent, while Mainland Australia is regarded as its co ...

Description

Ephemerids are generally quite large mayflies (up to 35 mm) with either two or three very long tails. Many species have distinctively patterned

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...

s.Chinery, Michael (1986) ''Collins Guide to the Insects of Britain and Western Europe'' (Reprinted 1991) They breed in a wide range of waters, usually requiring a layer of

silt Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay and composed mostly of broken grains of quartz. Silt may occur as a soil (often mixed with sand or clay) or as sediment mixed in suspension (chemistry), suspension with water. Silt usually ...

as the

nymphs A nymph (; ; sometimes spelled nymphe) is a minor female nature deity in ancient Greek folklore. Distinct from other Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature; they are typically tied to a specific place, land ...

have strong legs which are adapted for burrowing (the group is sometimes known as burrowing mayflies). The nymphs are largely

carnivorous A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant whose nutrition and energy requirements are met by consumption of animal tissues (mainly mu ...

and collect their food either through

predation Predation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common List of feeding behaviours, feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation ...

scavenging Scavengers are animals that consume dead organisms that have died from causes other than predation or have been killed by other predators. While scavenging generally refers to carnivores feeding on carrion, it is also a herbivorous feeding be ...

Genera

The

Global Biodiversity Information Facility The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) is an international organisation that focuses on making scientific data on biodiversity available via the Internet using web services. The data are provided by many institutions from around th ...

Global Biodiversity Information Facility: Family Ephemeridae
(retrieved 7 April 2024) includes: # '' Afromera'' # ''

Denina ''Denina'' is a monotypic genus of European mayflies in the family Ephemeridae Ephemeridae is a family of mayfly, mayflies with about 150 described species found throughout the world except Australia and Oceania. Description Ephemerids are g ...

'' # '' Eatonica'' # '' Eatonigenia'' # ''

Ephemera Ephemera are items which were not originally designed to be retained or preserved, but have been collected or retained. The word is etymologically derived from the Greek ephēmeros 'lasting only a day'. The word is both plural and singular. On ...

'' # ''

Hexagenia ''Hexagenia'' is a genus of mayfly in the family Ephemeridae, the common burrower mayflies. Species These eight species belong to the genus ''Hexagenia'': * '' Hexagenia albivitta'' (Walker, 1853) * '' Hexagenia atrocaudata'' McDunnough, 1924 * ...

'' # '' Litobrancha'' # '' Parabaetis'' # ''

Pentagenia ''Pentagenia'', similar to Hexagenia, is a genus of insect in the family Ephemeridae, commonly referred to as burrowing mayflies. General information Unlike Hexagenia, which inhabit mostly lightly compacted silt substrates, most species of Pent ...

'' # '' Phthartus''

References

* McGavin, George C. ''Insects and Spiders'' 2004

External links

Fauna Europaea
* * {{Ephemeroptera, 1 Mayflies Insect families

Description

Genera

References

See also

External links