Mayfly

I had mayfly bugs on my property as a kid, as i lived across the street from a large creek and waterfall, they used to scare me a little when i was real small because at first i did not know if they could sting me or not with that neat arced forked end tail,but always respected these and looked forward to seeing them...peace..mike.

Living within close proximity of both Lake St. Clair and Lake Erie, and the Detroit River that connects the two, I see countless Mayflies every spring. On some days in June, entire structures along the lakefront/riverfront will be completely covered in them, and I've found swarms of them as far as 4 miles inland from the shoreline.

These are always an early sign of summer for me, so for that and the fact they are completely harmless I will give them a positive.

Mayflies on the southern shore of Lake Erie are sometimes also called "June Bugs" or "Canadian Soldiers". All but one day of their lifespan (two to three years) is spent burrowing in the bottom of the lake. On the last day of their lives, they emerge from the lake, mate, lay eggs and die. They appear over a period of several weeks in late May-early June depending on the temperature of the lake.

To people unfamiliar with them, they may appear dangerous. This happens especially when they are first seen hanging on cars and store windows, collecting in piles under lights and occasionally resembling a blizzard. Since they do not eat as adults, they have no mouth (and no need of one) and therefore cannot bite.

They are a good "indicator species" because their n... read moreumbers decrease or increase rapidly depending on the amount of contamination in the lake bottom. Ohio State University's Stone Lab on Gibraltar Island (the oldest freshwater lab in the U.S.) does regular counts of their concentration on the lake bed which gives them an indication of what is happening to the lake and fish. They were thought to be extinct during the time the lake was most polluted but have returned in large numbers.

They can be carried up to 20 miles inland by wind and are attracted to lights and light colored clothing. In Port Clinton, Ohio, street lights are turned off during the "invasion" to prevent them from piling up and causing accidents. In past years they were scooped up with front end loaders and hauled away in dump trucks. Grant funds were used recently to create a composting facility but it currently is unused because turning off the street lights was found to be more practical.

The most damage caused by mayflies occured several years ago when the lights around an electrical substation in Lucas County attracted enough of them to short circuit the equipment, causing a power outage throughout much of northwestern Ohio.

Mayflies have a distinctive dead fish smell, especially when washed off the sides of homes and commercial buildings or off sidewalks. They create nasty smelly stains on clothes when crushed (as happens especially at gas stations or when walking into restaurants, etc. after dark).

Although we consider them a nuisance, they also tell us that efforts to clean up the lake have been largely successful.