Night of the Mayflies

Last week I witnessed an event I have never seen before; the mass mating of mayflies. Mayflies are actually aquatic insects related to dragonflies. They breed in the water, living most of their lives as nymphs. I had heard of these insects all my life, and finally I got the chance to see them in all their glory! I figured the reason for this must have something to do with the extremely wet conditions we had for at least the last 2 years.

The thing that always intrigued me about this insect is that it lives only about 24 hours after hatching as an adult. Some species of Mayflies live only a few minutes, just long enough for females to lay eggs fertilized by males. In actuality, Mayflies live much longer than that as nymphs in water...sometimes for years!

For more detailed information: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayfly

Sorry that these pictures are so bad, they don't come close to conveying what I witnessed. It was nighttime and lighting wasn't the best.

Have a great week, everyone! Hugs to Pam and Marie-claire!