CHAPTER XIX 



AMPHIBIOUS NEUROPTERA CONTINUED EPHEMERIDAE, MAY-FLIES 



Fam. VII. Ephemeridae May-flies. 



Delicate Insects with atrophied mouth and small, short antennae; 

 witli four membranous wings 

 having much minute cross- 

 veining ; the hinder pair very 

 much smaller than the other 

 pair, sometimes entirely absent : 

 the body terminated by three 

 or two very elongate slender 

 tails. The earlier stages are 

 passed through in water, and 

 the individual then differs 

 greatly in appearance from 

 the winged Insect ; the passage 

 between the two forms is sud- 

 den ; the creature in its first 

 winged state is a subimago, 

 which by shedding a delicate 

 skin reveals the final form of 

 the individual. 



FIG. 273. Ephemera danica, male, 

 Britain. 



THE may-flies are well known in 



literature as the types of a brief 



and ineffective life. This supposed 



brevity relates solely to their existence in the winged form. In 



the earlier stages the may-fly is so unlike its subsequent self 



that it is not recognised as a may-fly by the uninitiated. The 



total life of the individual is really quite as long as that of most 



