SCIENCE: THE MAYFLY

Anyone who says he's been bitten by a mayfly is lying. An adult mayfly has no functional mouth parts and so cannot bite--or eat. It lives for just a day. It spends most of its life as an aquatic nymph feeding on debris from plants and algae. That's if it's not eaten by predators. Mayflies are the only group of insects that molt after sprouting wings. The wingless nymph swims to the water surface or perches on nearby rocks or plants. Within seconds or minutes it molts into a winged nymph. It soon flies to nearby plants and molts again into a winged adult. Its total life span is about a year. [Source: http://insects.tamu.edu/fieldguide/aimg3.html, et al]