A Little Bit More
Mayflies are members of the insect order Ephemeroptera, named because the adult stage is so short (ephemeral) – some species live only a single day as adults before dying. Mayflies are primitive insects that fossil records show were living during the Carboniferous and Permian times, long before the dinosaurs. Although this is an especially common insect in many areas of the world (there are more than 2,000 known species), they are not often seen as most of their lives are spent underwater.
Although mayfly behavior varies from species to species, in general they emerge from the water at dusk, shed their skins twice (once as sort of a sub-adult and then full-adult), mate, lay eggs, and die. Males engage in concentrated cluster flights while females visit these clusters to choose males, mate and then leave to lay their eggs. After mating, both males and females die. Many species of immature mayflies spend a couple of years underwater, a few as much as 4 years, feeding on the bottom, eating plant life before returning to the surface to renew the cycle.
In a healthy habitat, immature mayflies, called nymphs, may be extremely abundant and serve as an important food-chain link between plants and fish. Trout fishermen are dependent on good mayfly nymph populations to support their fishy quarry. Nymphs are especially susceptible to oxygen level variations – in waters with low oxygen, often found in polluted areas, mayfly nymphs may be rare or totally absent. A healthy mayfly population, on the other hand, probably indicates a healthy environment and a thriving fish population as well.
Activities
Just One Day
Objectives: Write a Haiku about mayflies
Materials: Access to information on Haiku structure
One of the beauties of Haiku, is the simple sentence structure and limited vocabulary that is used. Since mayflies have such a limited life as adults, they seem to be especially well suited to something short and sweet in poetry too. Let’s have the students write a Haiku about mayflies and see what they come up with. Make sure that whatever “facts” they use in the Haiku are accurate!
Instructions for writing a Haiku poem:
Key Concepts
Identification, Life Cycles, Reproduction
Questions
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Posted by michael madson on June 09, 2006 at 11:07 PM
Q: I saw a mayfly on the stream that was totally black. The body was all black and the wings where all black. Some has large red eyes. There were hundreds just floating on the surface on the water. What kind of Mayfly was it?
A: Oh my, there are hundreds of different species of mayflies in North America so providing a definite answer for you is just not possible. Even entomologists must examine these insects closely to figure out which is which - it's not at all easy.
You got to see one of those special times in nature when a large number of mayfly nymphs transformed from their immature to mature stage in life. This is the time when trout fishermen are particularly eager to be on hand since the mayflies are especially vulnerable at this point in their lives and the fish gobble them up. Fishermen like to plop their flies into the stream in hopes of catching that big trout. Sorry I can't nail this for you but hope you understand. Thanks for sharing though.
Posted by Jane Wadden on May 14, 2005 at 04:53 PM
Q: Hi there,
I work at an Outdoor Education School and a topic has come up surrounding keeping garter snakes in our school for up to 1 month in a terrarium. I am totally against it but there are others who say because we are an educational institution and take good care of the snake it would be all right.
So my question is, how do I explain the environmental ethics surrounding this issue and if people are still insisting, is there a way to do this so that the best possible care of the snake can be carried out. i.e. longest possible stay in a terrarium, etc.
Thanks :)
A: It's good to see you're concerned about the issues surrounding wild animals. I totally understand your point but there are times when I personally feel it is OK IF the animal is properly cared for and IF it is returned while still healthy. There really can be a lot of educational value in caring for and observing a wild animal - keep in mind that there are some animals that are not legal to possess. Granted, it is best to do this in the wild but most people don't get this chance. If students can observe a snake in captivity, watch how it behaves and feeds, they're most likely to be much less fearful of snakes in the future. We receive so many questions regarding snakes and the fears that people have about them.
To answer your question, though, I'd strongly encourage any caregivers to read up on the animal they have so they understand enough to both provide a proper environment and proper food. This seems to be the least that people can do for a captive wild animal. Once they understand the requirements of a Garter Snake, for example, they should be willing to release it immediately if they find it is not "thriving" in captivity.
Hope this helps. Thanks for your question.