16 February 2014

Mayfly

Mayflies belong to the insect Order Ephemeroptera. The name refers to the adult's ephemeral lifespan, which is measured at most in days — sometimes as little as a few hours. Living longer would be difficult because the adults have vestigial mouthparts, meaning they can't feed. They're unique in being the only insects to have two flying stages: the subadult and adult.

Those crazy-looking orange turban-like things are the upper part of the eyes. This differentiation of the eyes into upper and lower parts is present only in the males.

This individual was sitting on a lemonwood leaf near the edge of the terrace, several hundred metres from the nearest stream. I suspect he had a lousy Valentine's day.


[14 February 2014, Olympus OM-D EM-1, 60 mm f2.8 Macro , ISO 400, 1/200 at f7.1]

All content © 2014 Pete McGregor
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7 comments:

  1. Elephant's Child16 February 2014 at 18:08

    Your insect macros are ALWAYS a delight. Thank you.

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  2. pohanginapete16 February 2014 at 21:50

    Thank you, EC :^)

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  3. Anonymous17 February 2014 at 04:31

    Your commentary made me smile. As always stunning capture! Maureen

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  4. Relatively Retiring17 February 2014 at 05:27

    How can this make any biological sense, that such a complex creature can only exist for such a brief time?
    Yet another wonderful portrait.

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  5. pohanginapete17 February 2014 at 09:50

    Maureen, thanks. Glad you enjoyed it.

    RR, it's the larval stages that occupy most of the life history; all the adults need to do is reproduce. I agree, though — it seems somehow wrong, somehow wasteful. On the other hand, perhaps something so ephemeral deserves even greater respect and admiration?

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  6. Zhoen18 February 2014 at 07:33

    Reminds me of the David Ives one act play, Time Flies.

    Sounds like a great way to be very adaptable. Each generation a new variation, when conditions are extremely changable.

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  7. pohanginapete18 February 2014 at 08:08

    Zhoen — a play about mayflies? Wonderful!

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