Talk:Mayfly/Archive 1

predaceous species and time spent mating
I removed these from the article:

"In the USA the predaceous species tend to live in sand bottomed streams such as those found in Nebraska and Iowa (certain streams in Indiana and Illinois have also been known to have the predaceous forms.)"

This was not attributed to any source, and it's completely incorrect. One major often-predator species, Isonychia bicolor, is very common in rocky streams throughout the Midwest and the East.

[Isonychia bicolor is a filter feeder. While technically it will eat any small organism it can collect (including animals) it does not actively hunt, which many sand-dwelling mayflies will (I'll get a citation for this soon, but Edmunds et al. 1976, I believe, touched on this)].

"The majority of the life of the adult is spent in mating swarms."

This is another unattributed error. Usually, most of the life of the adult is spent molting from the subimago to the imago and waiting for ideal conditions (usually the right time of day) to form mating swarms. There is usually at least an overnight wait which lasts longer than the brief mating swarm (which is typically an hour or so).

[The above is not technically 100% accurate as the subimago stage is not the adult stage but a subadult stage (imago=adult).]

fishflies
This is a note I left for User_talk:Taxman.

From the article mayfly, which you have edited:

''It often happens that all the mayflies in a population mature at once, and for a day or two in the springtime, mayflies will be everywhere, dancing around each other in large groups, or resting on every available surface.

''Both immature and adult mayflies are an important part of the food chain, particularly for carnivorous fish like trout.

''Mayflies are also an industrial nuisance, as the large population of dead adults can clog the intakes of air and water supply systems. A good example of this is found in the nuclear industry when plants located near fresh water can have their cooling water intakes clogged by the corpses.''

If you live along a certain stretch of the Mississippi River you know what fishflies are. I do not want to deface the fine article, but something needs to be added, perhaps another article, about the nuisance that gazillions of mayflies/fishflies do on a certain day in June (not May). By the millions, these winged-genitalia arise from the river, get downright sexual with lights, and by dawn, leave a huge pile of dead ones around or on any light left on overnight. A few perseverate to invade one's storm windows and die there.--FourthAve 10:34, 19 July 2005 (UTC)

The current trend in taxonomy is to lump the hemimetabola into the paurometabola. Is this something you would consider updating on your page? Sphongophorus 16:24, 18 January 2006 (UTC)

Nickname in Ohio
The name "mufflehead" actually refers to midges. Mapsax 20:06, 20 May 2006 (UTC)


 * More Ohio: The reference I added after "Canadian soldier" is a graphic from the May 25, 2006 Cleveland Plain Dealer called "Born to swarm". (Direct link to graphic: http://www.cleveland.com/insideout/wide/mayfly.gif) Mapsax 17:36, 25 May 2006 (UTC)

Fishfly?
Is the current redirect from fishfly correct? Neuroptera and Megaloptera both mention fishflies(Chauliodes), but they should probably not link here.EricR 23:07, 13 July 2006 (UTC)

North Bay
The "North Bay" paragraph should be reconsidered. Firstly, it shouldn't be in the introduction at all, but if anything be placed with similar information under the "Adult" or "Interactions with man" subsection. Secondly, it is overly detailed compared to, say, the "Tisza River" account. Thirdly, it still contains a few typos and grammatical errors. Fourthly, it is unattributed. Alfvaen 05:06, 2 July 2007 (UTC)

A mayfly lives for 24 hours... and sometimes it rains. think about it

Jacobs Field mayfly reference
It doesn't need to be in this article. I deleted it. I'm a yankee fan myself, actually, and I think whoever added that piece in there was a fello,w annoyed, yankee fan. Dude, wikipedia isn't the place. Go blog about it, or something. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Redwolf75 (talk • contribs) 02:34, 6 October 2007 (UTC)

I disagree. Not because I am an Indians fan, but it was a big part of the ballgame. Any activity from a specific species that makes it to the front page of Yahoo.com is worth mentioning in my opinion. It just needs to be written a little differently, and I'll try to do just that. CyberTootie 03:44, 6 October 2007 (UTC)

So what??? This is not mlb.com. This is an INTERNATIONAL encyclopedia. There are thousands of other events involving mayflies, just as relevant as this one.And some other dude already deleted the reference. I didn't even ahve to do it myself. --Redwolf75 05:30, 6 October 2007 (UTC)

That was a lot of bugs. Like a swarm of squeegee men in the Bronx. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.99.53.199 (talk) 04:13, 6 October 2007 (UTC)

"One of the more memorable appearances of this species" is an over-statement. It is only memorable for Americans interested in baseball. I do not think this part belongs in an encyclopedia. 71.232.14.238 12:45, 6 October 2007 (UTC)

Exactly. I'm am American interested in baseball, and I can see that it clearly does not belong. --Redwolf75 20:52, 7 October 2007 (UTC)

This reference does not belong. For one, the bugs at Jacobs Field were not Mayflies, they were midges. It was originally incorrectly reported on TBS during the game as "Canadian Soldiers," which is a nickname for Mayflies. However, they have since cleared it up and stated that the bugs during the game were midges. Go view the midges page on this site. Just compare the appearance of those bugs with the appearance of a Mayfly. Secondly, the way it is written is inappropriate for an encylcopedia. An encyclopedia should not state that the bug "clearly" afected the outcome of the game, when that is only speculation.Failureofafriend 05:26, 6 October 2007 (UTC)

You're right. I just checked that. Whoever keeps putting it back in, I'm going to report it as vandalism if you don't stop. THEY WERE MIDGES not mayflies, for one, and even so, it wouldn't be relevant. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Redwolf75 (talk • contribs) 05:33, 6 October 2007 (UTC)

Please engage in discussion before editing this back in. As I stated before, these were not mayflies at the game, they were midges. Please post your reasoning here in the discussion before adding it back in.Failureofafriend 05:40, 6 October 2007 (UTC)

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=dw-aldsbugs100507&prov=yhoo&type=lgns; http://www.baseballprospectus.com/unfiltered/?p=581 Both sites refer to them as midges. In fact, the second source makes clear: "Some thought they were mayflies. Other thought they were Canadian soldiers. The less sophisticated of us–after all we don’t write for Entomology Prospectus–called them gnats. It turns out they were midges and they certainly added a touch of comic relief to a tense game that Travis Hafner won with a two-out bases-loaded single in the 11th that gave the Indians a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series." Please show a source citing that they are in fact mayflies, and not midges if you believe otherwise. Failureofafriend 05:58, 6 October 2007 (UTC)

Semiprotected
I have semiprotected this article for 3 days to halt the revert war on this article. Spartaz Humbug! 07:23, 6 October 2007 (UTC)

Who was the asshole who kept reverting? After the other guy cited the midge source???--Redwolf75 18:39, 6 October 2007 (UTC)

`Africa` vs Country/Region Names
from the Article: It often happens that all the mayflies in a population mature at once (the hatch), and for a day or two in the spring or fall, mayflies will be everywhere, dancing around each other in large groups, or resting on every available surface. This happens in mid-June on the Tisza River in Serbia and Hungary; this kind of mayfly is called the tiszavirág (in Hungarian) or "tiski cvet" in Serbian which is translated as "Tisza flower". This natural phenomenon is called Tisza blooming. In certain regions of New Guinea and Africa, mayflies are eaten when they emerge en masse on a certain day.

1) Africa is a continent - and a very big one too. 2) I think this `Africa` should be expanded to include the actual regions where the flies emerge en masse.

196.30.245.149 (talk) 20:38, 18 November 2007 (UTC)

Lake Waccamaw, NC
This 5 x 7 mile lake about 40 miles west of Wilmington also is a favorite home of the May Flies. I believe that the lake is considered as protected because of their habitation. This lake is near the North Carolina Green Swamp. Searching on the website for the Green Swamp will link you to information on the many carnivorous plants growing in the area. Wendygail (talk) 15:26, 19 May 2008 (UTC)

Question
I gather from the article that adult mayflies don't eat. Where do they get their energy from, then? 69.110.6.200 (talk) 21:30, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

Eggs
What happens after the flies have mated? Where do they lay eggs? Do the eggs hatch tiny, fully functional naiads and that is then the complete cycle? 190.141.234.87 (talk) 10:24, 28 August 2008 (UTC)


 * The adults only live a day or so, so it is obvious that they die soon after mating and laying eggs. I've added a bit to the article about where eggs are laid and about the moulting of nymphs. As for the development of the nymphs, although I don't see it said explicitly in the references, Mayflies are hemimetabolous. -- Donald Albury 11:30, 28 August 2008 (UTC)

Only from late Carboniferous?
I have a poster on my wall with a chart of geologic time that appears to show mayflies dating from the middle Devonian. I'm guessing the article is right and the poster is wrong, but it would be good if someone with a better source could check it. --Dan Wylie-Sears 2 (talk) 00:15, 7 September 2009 (UTC)


 * An (admittedly quick) look on Google Scholar didn't find sources about ephemeropterans in the Devonian, but only from Carboniferous onwards. Does your poster cite any source? --Cyclopia (talk) 17:05, 7 September 2009 (UTC)

Locations in North America
I gather that Mayflies appear in several spots around the Great Lakes (I'm from Windsor, and they were a favourite bug of mine when I was a kid :) ), and a few other locations as well such as North Bay (?) and somewhere along the Mississippi.  The article currently mentions only Buffalo - which should be corrected, although I'm not sure what the improvement should say.   PK  T (alk)  13:58, 22 March 2010 (UTC)

Lifespan?
These two lines would seem to be contradictory: "The adults are short-lived, from a few minutes to a few days depending on the species." "The lifespan of an adult mayfly can vary from just 30 minutes to one day depending on the species."

30 minutes is not "a few minutes", and one day is not "a few days".Amaxson (talk) 03:59, 28 October 2010 (UTC)

Lifespan of adult and the fact adults do not feed
According to Encyclopedia of Insects, Edited by Vincent H. Resh, Ring T. Carde, 2003, Elsevier Science:

1. "Adults live from 1to 2h to a few days", page 372

2. "Adults do not feed; instead they rely on reserves built up during their nymphal life", page 372

The last fact is very important as it compares to octupus death by starvation,too,when on reproduction. Semelparous species seem to like to die of anorexy! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 109.226.55.3 (talk) 23:11, 18 September 2012 (UTC)

In addition: "The results reveal that mortality does not occur in one large step in this group of rapidly senescencing organisms. Rather deaths are spread over several days when the adult mayflies are maintained under laboratory conditions."

Experimental gerontology, Volume 37, issue 4, April 2002, Pages 567-570, "Longevity minimalists: life table studies of two species of northern Michigan adult mayflies", James R. Carey — Preceding unsigned comment added by 109.226.55.3 (talk) 02:18, 19 September 2012 (UTC)

Use as food
The A Blank on the Map documentary shows some New Guinea people catch mayflies on the water and eat them. 76.10.128.192 (talk) 05:37, 11 February 2013 (UTC)

eyes
Eye says that mayflies have parabolic reflector compound eyes. That seems to be an unusual eye design. It would be great to have more information about the eyes here. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 144.118.94.167 (talk) 21:50, 16 October 2013 (UTC)

Common Name
What evidence is there that the common name arose before the change in the calendar? ie what was then May is now June? SovalValtos (talk) 18:38, 22 June 2014 (UTC)


 * According to the OED, "May-fly" is first recorded for caddisflies in 1640, for this group in 1653, and for stoneflies in 1676, so that's before eleven days that were then May became June. &mdash;JerryFriedman (Talk) 04:01, 24 June 2014 (UTC)


 * It looks as if this delicious anfranctuosity of English history should be incorporated into the article, but I am not the one best to do it in a suitably light humoured way. Please help. SovalValtos (talk) 21:01, 24 June 2014 (UTC)

Nice article
Nice article. I've done a brief copy edit for a few things that stuck out.

One query - the lead says mayflies emerge in spring; later in the text it says spring and autumn. Which is it? (It originally said fall but autumn is preferable to fall as it is universally understood whereas fall is not; also this article is in British English. You might want to add a tag to that effect). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.146.23.96 (talk) 06:55, 6 August 2015 (UTC)
 * Thanks, done. Chiswick Chap (talk) 16:31, 6 August 2015 (UTC)