Ephemeroptera is an order of aquatic insects commonly known as mayflies, part of the ancient insect group Palaeoptera alongside the dragonflies and damselflies. Over 3,000 species are known worldwide, grouped into more than 400 genera across 42 families, and the short-lived, non-feeding winged adult stage that gives the order its name distinguishes it from most other insects.
Facts
Taxonomic Rank Scientific Name Member Species/Taxa Count Geographic DistributionDistributed all over the world in clean freshwater habitats, though absent from Antarctica 1 Defining CharacteristicsUniquely among insects, they have a fully winged terrestrial preadult stage, the subimago, which molts into the sexually mature adult, the imago 1 Identification
Distinguishing AppearanceLong tails and wings that do not fold flat over the abdomen 1 Classification
Living or Extinct In the Other Atlases
Found In
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Mayfly
Introduction (rank)
aquatic insects belonging to the order Ephemeroptera
Introduction (name)
aquatic insects belonging to the order Ephemeroptera
Introduction (member count)
Over 3,000 species of mayfly are known worldwide, grouped into over 400 genera in 42 families
Distribution section
Mayflies are distributed all over the world in clean freshwater habitats, though absent from Antarctica
Introduction (life cycle)
unique among insect orders in having a fully winged terrestrial preadult stage, the subimago, which moults into a sexually mature adult, the imago
Introduction (appearance)
Mayflies have long tails and wings that do not fold flat over the abdomen
In Group: Hemimetabolous Insect Orders, Lead
Mayflies (also up-winged flies or up-wing flies, or drake-flies in the UK; shadflies or fishflies in northern U.S. and Canada) are aquatic insects belonging to the order Ephemeroptera.
View the Source2. Wikidata (taxon extant/extinct status)
Wikimedia Foundation / Wikidata contributorsQ174273, descriptionView the Source Wikidata: Ephemeroptera
Wikidata Q174273, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the Source Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.