Mayfly… Not just a pest

Mayflies Contributions to Ecosystems

Tiny and complicated. This misunderstood insect is truly fascinating. Mayfly (Ephemeroptera)

The abundance of mayflies makes them an important part of the diet of many species other than humans. (yes, humans) As many as 224 species—including a range of other invertebrates, birds, lizards and other reptiles, amphibians, bats and other mammals—feed upon mayflies. Arguably the most important of these predator-prey relationships is the contribution of mayflies to the diet of fish.

In being an integral part of the diet of fish and other aquatic animals, mayflies serve as a link in the flow of energy between primary producers and secondary consumers.

Mayflies not only move nutrients within aquatic ecosystems, but they also move nutrients between them. This may be important for maintaining a variety of aquatic communities, especially if various climate forecasts hold true. Some migrations of mayflies may prove to deliver food subsidies from productive but warming river mainstems to cool but food-limited tributaries, enhancing the resilience of cool-water predators in warming river networks. Ephemerella maculata Traver (Ephemerellidae), for example, has been shown to engage in such movements, and it was more important than terrestrial invertebrate subsidies to the early growth of a trout species.

So much more to read in the source for this article, here.
Credit: National Library of Medicine; National Center for Biotechnicology Information