A clever, if not entirely accurate, Vodaphone commercial:
The cuddling mayflies? Adorable.
Mayflies loving life, briefly
Alex Wild on insects, science, and photography
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A personal blog by Illinois-based biologist and photographer Alex Wild.
Myrmecos- derived from the ancient greek word for "ant"- hosts Alex's musings about these and other little creatures that share our planet.
Questions? Email alwild [at] myrmecos.net; or follow @Myrmecos on Twitter.
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Bits and Pieces
Bro was short a caudal filament but he DIDN’T EVEN CARE. So lighthearted.
Great commercial – but I fail to see what’s inaccurate about it.
Just about everything, rofl.
- The shortest lifespan for any mayfly species is about one year, with some taking 2 or 3 years to complete their lifecycle.
- The adult winged stages last from a few days to a few hours, depending on species.
- adult mayflies can not move their abdominal segments from side to side, as far as I have ever seen in 40 years of looking, and don’t move them dorso-ventrally all that much either. One of the best ways to separate living larval (nymphal) stages of mayflies from stoneflies is that stoneflies ‘swim’ with lateral abdominal movement while mayflies use dorso-ventral movement.
- adult male mayflies generally have quite visibly enlarged eyes compared to females and slim abdomens while female abdomens are bloated with eggs.
- mayflies have very poor flight control and would be totally unable to perform the kinds of acrobatics displayed in that commercial.
I could go on but there is no need or any point.
I was kidding
But thanks for the info!
Awwwwwww!