Bizzare unknown fly with huge eyes
Location:  Fairfield, Maine USA
August 13, 2010 2:51 pm
Dear Bugman,
I found this fly on my Cruiser and another under an apple tree leaf. The one on the car seemed very aware of my presence and at one point seemed to be doing some kind of ”defending it’s territory dance” at me! It was about a half inch long (just the body.) It had very bright green large eyes and two very long appendages coming out of its tail end. Is this a stage of life for a dragonfly, or just an adult of something entirely different? It looks like it could be related…can you identify this please?
Thanks,
James R

Mayfly

Hi James,
These are beautiful images of a Mayfly, even though it is August.  Though Mayflies are most common in the spring, especially May, they may also be found at other times of the year.  Whenever they are found, there is one thing that is constant.  They do not live long as winged adults, many dying the first day.  The name for the order, Ephemeroptera, is explained on BugGuide as:  “from the Greek ‘ephemeros’ (of or for a day; short-lived) + ‘pteron’ (wing; feather) refering to the short time that adults are on the wing.”  Mayflies are unique in the insect world in that they molt twice once they are winged and capable of flight.  The aquatic nymphs metamorphose into subadults or subimages which are called duns by anglers.  They molt a second time into true adults or images which are called spinners by anglers.  According to BugGuide:  “Adult (imago): body delicate or “flimsy”, varying from almost transparent to white, yellow, orange, green, brown, or black; thorax and abdomen bare, often shiny; legs slender, solid color; front legs often held forward and sometimes upward in front of head when at rest; forewings large, triangular, with many cross veins; hindwings much smaller than forewings (hindwings absent in some species); both wings usually transparent but sometimes patterned, held vertically and together above thorax when at rest  Pre-adult (subimago): wings cloudy in appearance, body dull and pubescent, with appendages somewhat shorter — but otherwise similar to imago; pre-adults molt a final time to become adults  Nymph: body elongate, flattened or cylindrical, usually greenish or brownish but color varies according to the type of food eaten; legs long; antennae short; abdomen with lateral plate-like gills and usually three long thin tail projections (cerci); some species have only two cerci.”  We believe your specimen is a Common Burrower Mayfly in the family Ephemeridae, based on images posted to BugGuide.

Mayfly

Hi Daniel,
Thanks so much for the i.d. and detailed information!
Interesting how the body color is affected by diet.
Best wishes,
James

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A Zillion Mayflies
May 24, 2010
Thought you might enjoy the photo.
This was taken on a family camping trip in 2003 if I remember correctly.
I walked to the bathroom without a flashlight the night they all came out. I thought the crunchy things I kept stepping on were just leaves, until I reached the bathroom, which had lights… That’s the last time I can recall ever running around barefoot in the dark.
DD
Camp in Manistique, MI

Swarming Mayflies

Dear DD,
Thanks for the wonderful photo and field observations.

Swarming Mayflies

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Mystery creature in creek
March 9, 2010
Hi there,
I was enjoying the lovely weather yesterday and took the opportunity to wade through our creek–after flipping some rocks over, I found this guy on the underside. It was probably 4 or 5 mm long. I’ve never seen anything like it, and was hoping you could shed some light on the mystery.
Thanks in advance! I just love the site.
Dakota
Black Mountain, North Carolina

Stonefly Naiad

Hi Dakota,
You have discovered the aquatic larva of a Stonefly, known as a naiad.  We are linking to an image on BugGuide that was identified as being in the genus Acroneuria, but we are not certain if that is the same genus as your specimen.  According to BugGuide:  “nymphs are often found under large stones in streams and rivers” and “nymphs prey mainly on small aquatic invertebrates such as larvae of chironomids, mayflies, and caddisflies; detritus and algae are also eaten.”

Correction courtesy of Karl
Hi Daniel: This naiad appears to have three tails (cerci) not two, which would make it a mayfly.  It looks lake a “clinger” mayfly (Ephemeroptera: Heptageniidae), possibly in the genus Maccaffertium.  You could also check out Stenonema which look very similar, but most of the species in this genus have recently been moved to Maccaffertium or Stenacron.  The Heptageniidae are well known to fly fishers and include the popular March Brown (Maccaffertium [=Stenonema] vicarium) and Cahills. Regards. K

Thanks for watching our back on this one Karl.  We were in a rush this morning.

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Is this a moth? A butterfly? A beetle? Identification please!
October 23, 2009
Hi, I’m a photographer and one day out on my porch I saw this bug. I just had to take pictures of it, but I was completely dumbfounded as to what type of insect it was. The picture was taken early this past summer and I’ve been searching for identification ever since. It’d be great if you guys could tell me what it is so I can finally label it in my portfolio!
Thanks so much!!! Clair Jones
Northern Virginia

Common Burrower Mayfly

Hi Clair,
Your insect is none of the above.  It is a Mayfly, a group of ephemeral insects that only lives in the adult form for a few days, long enough to mate.  Though they often appear in great numbers in the month of May, they can be found at other times as well.  This appears to be a Common Burrower Mayfly in the family Ephemeridae, based on images posted to BugGuide.

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