Insects - Ephemera danica
Ephemera danica
Body length 20mm

A familiar mayfly, widespread in Britain and Ireland. The orange-brown nymph has tapering, snout-like projection and three tail appendages; it lives buried in the silt and sand at the bottom of alkaline rivers and lakes. Like all mayflies, a winged sub-imago emerges from the nymphal skin in the spring and shortly afterwards moults again into the full adult stage which has spots on the wing.