Mayflies belong to the order Ephemeroptera, and their inmature stage, called naiads or nymphs, usually lasts one year in fresh water, as Mayflies are aquatic bugs. The adults have a short life span, lasting from a few hours to a few days, depending on the speices. World-wide, about two-thousand five hundred speices are known. In North Amarica, their are about six-hundred thrity kinds. Some names for the flies include: dayfly, shadefly, and fishfly. The naiad live in streams under rock, decaying vegitaion, or in the sediment. Very few live in lakes. Most feed on algae or diatoms. The naiad stage may last for several months to years with several molts on the way. Mayfly naiads are very noticable, as they have seven pairs of gills on the dorsum of the abdomen. Also, most have three long cerci, or tails at the end of their body, though some only have two.
In the last aquatic stage, dark wingpads are visable. Developmentally, these incects are an incomplete metamorphosis. They are unque among the winged insects, as they have an alate stage, were they molt one more time to get working wings.
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