#burrowingmayfly

[thegrandimago]

This is the 45th installment of 'Since I've Been Gone'. Taken on the same day as the previous post while I was on my Iowa hitch with @americanconservationexperience, nightfall was arriving and all sorts of critters make themselves known. Originally struggling in the water, I rescued this giant mayfly (Hexagenia limbata) so I could get a picture of it. This is the imago form, of which the main purpose is to fly for a mate and do so before their brief lives end. It's assumed that mayflies live brief lives based on their imago lifespan, but the instar, or naiad, form is in fact where the majority of their life is spent. For this genus at least, they are fully aquatic and live in U-shaped burrows within the sediment of slow-moving bodies of water filter-feeding on detritus. Thanks Doc Kennedy @unt for teaching me all of this. #animal #animals #nature #insect #insects #insectagram #iowainsects #aquaticinsects #aquaticinsect #mayfly #mayflies #burrowingmayfly #iowanature #wildlife #fauna #imago #iowawildlife #arthropods #arthropod #animalia #arthropoda #insecta #pterygota #ephemeroptera #ephemeridae #ephemeroidea #hexagenia #hexagenialimbata #giantmayfly #aceinspires (at YMCA Camp Wapsie) https://www.instagram.com/p/CVOc_aRqo0O/?utm_medium=tumblr

[crissypie]

Continuing the insect theme... a burrowing mayfly. Apparently these guys are a sign of a healthy ecosystem. First time I've ever seen one. Living in the country for the last ten years, the things that I used to dislike the most - bugs of all kinds - no longer bother me as much as they used to. I still don't like buzzy things, but I am getting better. #burrowingmayfly #insects #mybackyard #tennessee #nature