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© Copyright 2000, Jim Loy
It is well-known that the mayfly (insects of the order Ephemeroptera) live for only one day, spend their time flying and mating, never eating, and then they die. Whether such a short life is heaven or hell is a matter of conjecture.
Although the above description is true of the adult mayfly (also called june bug, shad fly, or salmon fly), it gives a grossly misleading view of the real life of the mayfly. The mayfly goes from egg to larva to adult. It may spend up to two years as a larva, a fully active member of the environment, where its job is eating algae and microscopic animals. So, by the time the mayfly transforms into an adult, it has already lived a full life, by insect standards.