Introduction Mayflies are common insects found in almost all freshwater habitats, as well as some brackish ones. The adults are soft bodied insects with very short antennae, vestigial mouthparts, two long cerci and usually a long caudal filament at the end of the abdomen. Most adult Mayflies have two pairs of wings however the second pair are considerably smaller than the first and in some species are absent altogether.
Nymphs have much longer antennae, functioning mouthparts and are aquatic.
Adult Mayflies do not feed and live very short lives, many species live only for one or two days but in others the adult life span may be as short as 2 hours or as long as 14 days. Nymphal life cycles can range between 3-4 week to 2.5 years depending on the species. Mayflies have attracted man's attention for a long time and one of the oldest accounts of Mayfly biology was published by Swammerdam in 1675, it is an unfortunate fact that the genus of Mayflies studied by Swammerdam Palingenia sp. is now extinct in the Netherlands and the rest of Western Europe, a consequence of the Mayflies general low tolerance for pollution. In most species the female lays her eggs a few at a time into the water by dipping her abdomen into the water while in flight. The eggs can hatch immediately or wait up to 11 months depending on the species and habitat with tropical species tending to have shorter life cycles and need less time for the eggs to mature or to wait for an optimum temperature or season.