Vol. 3: Insects
No common name
Chiloporter eatoni
FAMILY
Ameletopsidae
TAXONOMY
Chiloporter eatoni Lestage, 1931, Chile.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
None known.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Order: Ephemeroptera
Species accounts
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Larvae are active predators, feeding mainly on other aquatic insect larvae.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Not known.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Distribution very scattered. Populations probably are endangered by introduction of trout, owing to their large size, brilliant coloring, and conspicuous behavior.
Adult body size 0.6–0.9 in (15–22 mm); body and wings yellowish. Larvae have a big head and almost circular gills covering the abdomen. Gill color varies from pale yellow or pink to violet.
DISTRIBUTION
Southern Argentina and Chile.
HABITAT
Cold, well-aerated Patagonian creeks, streams, and lake margins.
BEHAVIOR
Larvae can hide under rocks and debris, although they normally are agile crawlers and fast swimmers, using the gills to propel themselves. Adult behavior is unknown.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
Small, but important in fish diet.
Brown mayfly
Ephemera vulgata
FAMILY
Ephemeridae
TAXONOMY
Ephemera vulgata Linnaeus, 1758, Europe.
Chiloporter eatoni
Ephemera vulgata
Stenonema vicarium
Grzimek’s Animal Life Encyclopedia |
129 |
Order: Ephemeroptera
OTHER COMMON NAMES
English: Brown drake.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Adult grow to 0.5–0.9 in (14–22 mm) and have spotted wings. Larvae have mandibular tusks for burrowing and big abdominal fringed gills (directed dorsally) that produce a water current inside the burrow.
DISTRIBUTION
Europe, including Great Britain and Scandinavia, south of the Arctic Circle and eastward to central Siberia.
HABITAT
Mostly in still waters that are not too cold (ponds, lakes, and riverine estuaries) and slow-flowing lowland rivers.
BEHAVIOR
Larvae burrow tunnels in silty and sandy substrates or in fine gravel. Imagoes fly in masses in the evening. Subimagoes hatch on the water surface.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Larvae are active filterers, feeding on small organic particles.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Males form small to large swarms along shores. Females deposit their eggs while drifting on the water surface. The life cycle is completed within two (rarely three) years, depending on water temperature.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Not threatened.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
Small, but highly valued by fly fishermen, who tie flies that imitate larvae and adults. Fishing can provide high rental fees for water owners.
Vol. 3: Insects
No common name
Stenonema vicarium
FAMILY
Heptageniidae
TAXONOMY
Baetis vicaria Walker, 1853, Saint Lawrence River.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
None known.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Adult body size is 0.4–0.6 in (10–14 mm); wings are hyaline with dark brown veins. Larvae are flattened, with broad head and spreading legs; caudal filaments longer than the body.
DISTRIBUTION
Eastern United States and southern Canada.
HABITAT
Variety of water habitats, generally in moderately to rapidly flowing streams of varying sizes.
BEHAVIOR
Larvae are strongly thigmotactic (contact-loving), clinging to some substrates. They crawl rapidly but seldom swim, which they do poorly. The full-grown larva floats to the water surface, from where the subimago hatches.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Larvae are collectors (gatherers), feeding on particulate organic matter.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Males form small swarms of 10 to 20 individuals. After mating, the female rests on the water, releasing eggs slowly or depositing a few at a time while touching the water with the tip of the abdomen. The life cycle lasts from a few months to one year.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Not threatened.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
Small, but important in fish diet.
Resources
Books
Berner, Lewis, and Manuel L. Pescador. The Mayflies of Florida. Rev. ed. Gainesville: University Presses of Florida, 1988.
Domínguez, Eduardo, ed. Trends in Research in Ephemeroptera and Plecoptera. New York and London: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, 2001.
Landolt, Peter, and Michel Sartori, eds. Ephemeroptera and Plecoptera: Biology, Ecology, Systematics. Fribourg, Switzerland: Mauron, Tinguely, and Lachat SA, 1997.
Needham, James G., Jay R. Traver, and Yin-Chi Hsu. The Biology of Mayflies, with a Systematic Account of North American Species. Ithaca, NY: Comstock Publishing, 1935.
Periodicals
Allan, J. Dave, and Alexander S. Flecker. “The Mating Biology of a Mass-Swarming Mayfly.” Animal Behavior 37, no. 3 (1989): 361–371.
Brittain, John E. “Biology of Mayflies.” Annual Review of Entomology 27 (1982): 119–147.
Edmunds, George F. Jr., and W. Patrick McCafferty. “The Mayfly Subimago.” Annual Review of Entomology 33 (1988): 509–529.
Peters, William L., and Janice G. Peters. “In the Predawn Mass Mating of Sand-Burrowing Mayflies, Timing Is Everything.” Natural History (1988): 8–14.
130 |
Grzimek’s Animal Life Encyclopedia |
Vol. 3: Insects
Resources
Ruffieux, Laurence, Jean-Marc Elouard, and Michel Sartori. “Flightlessness in Mayflies and Its Relevance to Hypotheses on the Origin of Insect Flight.” Proceedings of the Royal Society London Series B. 265, no. 1410 (1998): 2135–2140.
Other
Hubbard, Michael D. “Ephemeroptera Galactica.” 13 Feb.
2002. [2 Apr. 2003] <http://www.famu.org/mayfly/>.
Order: Ephemeroptera
McCafferty, Patrick W. “Mayfly Central.” [2 Apr. 2003] <http://www.entm.purdue.edu/entomology/research/mayfly/ mayfly.html>.
Eduardo Domínguez, PhD
Grzimek’s Animal Life Encyclopedia |
131 |
This page intentionally left blank