CHAPTER XIX 



AMPHIBIOUS NEUEOPTERA CONTINUED EPHEMEEIDAE, MAY-FLIES 



Fam. VII. Ephemeridae — May-flies. 



Delicate Insects ivith atrophied mouth and smcdl, short antennae; 

 with four membranous ivings 

 having much m,inute cross- 

 veining ; the hinder -pair very 

 much smaller than the other 

 pair , sometimes entirely cdisent: 

 the body terminated by three 

 or two very elongate slender 

 tails. The earlier stages are 

 passed through in ivater, and 

 the individual then differs 

 greatly in appearance from 

 the winged Insect ; the passage 

 betiveen the tioo forms is sud- 

 den ; the creature in its first 

 winged state is a subimago, 

 which by shedding a delicate 

 shin revecds the final form of 

 the individtial. 



The may-flies are well known- — in 



literature— as the types of a brief fio- 273.-£,.w™ toica, male, 



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 



