The ephemeral Mayfly

This reproduction business really takes it out of the poor old Mayfly.  They finally reach sexual adulthood only to die the next day

Like dragonflies and damselflies, to which they are distantly related, Mayflies begin life in fresh water.  Mayflies need reasonably clean unpolluted water with a high oxygen content, so our local ones can be found downstream of the weir.  They are unique among insects in having a fully winged terrestrial preadult stage, which then "moults" to allow the sexually mature adult to emerge.

Mayflies emerge as adults from spring to autumn, not just in May. Their main predator are fish like the trout.  So it is of course no surprise that fly fishermen make use of mayfly emergences by choosing artificial fishing flies that closely resemble them.

Thanks to H0tamer for hosting Tiny Tuesday - I'm afraid that the  opportunities offered for bug photography at this time of year were just too tempting for me to go with the optional technical theme.