|
Search over 100 encyclopedias and dictionaries: |
Research categories | Follow us on Twitter |
Research categories
View all topics in the newsView all reference sources at Encyclopedia.com |
|||
mayfly
mayfly any insect of the order Ephemeroptera, so named because the adults live for a short time, often only a single day, during which they molt twice, mate, and lay their eggs in freshwater. The adults are medium to large, shiny, slender insects with two pairs of fragile, transparent, many-veined wings, and two or three long threadlike tails. The long forelegs of the male are used to clasp the female during the mating flight. Mayflies, also called June bugs, shad flies, and salmon flies, emerge by the thousands from streams, ponds, and lakes at twilight in the early spring; the males form large mating swarms and when a female flies into the swarm she is seized by a male and the two depart to mate. Mayflies lack fully developed mouthparts and do not feed. The insect undergoes incomplete metamorphosis , the egg hatching directly into an aquatic naiad, or nymph, with chewing mouthparts, which passes through some 20 nymphal stages over a period of two years or more, feeding on algae and diatoms and breathing oxygen taken directly from water by gills. It emerges from the water to transform into a subadult phase known as the subimago, unique among insects, in which it has wings and can fly but has immature legs, tail, and reproductive system. Adult mayflies are an important food source for many animals; several fishing flies are modeled after them. Mayflies are classified in the phylum Arthropoda , class Insecta, order Ephemeroptera. |
|
|
Cite this article
"mayfly." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "mayfly." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-mayfly.html "mayfly." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-mayfly.html |
|
mayfly
mayfly Soft-bodied insect found worldwide. The adult does not eat and lives only a few days, but the aquatic larvae (nymph) may live several years. Adults have triangular front wings, characteristic thread-like tails, and vestigial mouthparts; they often emerge from streams and rivers in swarms. Length: 10–25mm (0.4–lin). Order Ephemeroptera.
|
|
|
Cite this article
"mayfly." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "mayfly." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-mayfly.html "mayfly." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-mayfly.html |
|
mayfly
may·fly / ˈmāˌflī/ • n. (pl. -flies) a short-lived, slender insect (order Ephemeroptera) with delicate, transparent wings and two or three long filaments on the tail. It lives close to water, where the chiefly herbivorous aquatic larvae develop. |
|
|
Cite this article
"mayfly." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "mayfly." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-mayfly.html "mayfly." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-mayfly.html |
|
mayfly
mayfly this short-lived insect is proverbial for its brief existence.
|
|
|
Cite this article
ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "mayfly." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "mayfly." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-mayfly.html ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "mayfly." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-mayfly.html |
|
mayfly
mayfly •ally, phalli
•Adlai • gadfly • blackfly • damselfly
•sandfly • barfly • mayfly
•Eli, Ely
•greenfly • bacilli • multiply • styli
•whitefly • wall eye • horsefly
•housefly
•alveoli, E. coli, gladioli
•blowfly • lapis lazuli • reguli • stimuli
•flocculi • ranunculi • firefly
•discoboli • astragali • dragonfly
•alkali • Lorelei • Naphtali • butterfly
•hoverfly
|
|
|
Cite this article
"mayfly." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "mayfly." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-mayfly.html "mayfly." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-mayfly.html |
|
|
Search over 100 encyclopedias and dictionaries:
HighBeam™ Research, Inc. © Copyright 2012. All rights reserved.
The Encyclopedia.com advertising network includes:
