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Mayflies "hatch" (emerge as adults) from spring to autumn, not necessarily in May, in enormous numbers. Some hatches attract tourists. Fly fishermen make use of mayfly hatches by choosing artificial fishing flies that resemble them. One of the most famous English mayflies is Rhithrogena germanica, the fisherman's "March brown mayfly". [3]
Binomial name. Hexagenia limbata. (Serville, 1829) [1] Hexagenia limbata, the giant mayfly, is a species of mayfly in the family Ephemeridae. It is native to North America where it is distributed widely near lakes and slow-moving rivers. [2] The larvae, known as nymphs, are aquatic and burrow in mud and the adult insects have brief lives.
Although not to the same extent as the larvae of mayflies and caddisflies, hellgrammites are intolerant of polluted waters and may have potential to be used as indicators of water quality. [20] As the adults are strongly attracted to lights, entomologists and collectors often use black light and mercury-vapor light traps to capture them. [9]
Aquatic insect. A water beetle. A whirligig beetle. Aquatic insects or water insects live some portion of their life cycle in the water. They feed in the same ways as other insects. Some diving insects, such as predatory diving beetles, can hunt for food underwater where land-living insects cannot compete.
Bioluminescence. Bioluminescence is the production and emission of light by living organisms. It is a form of chemiluminescence. Bioluminescence occurs widely in marine vertebrates and invertebrates, as well as in some fungi, microorganisms including some bioluminescent bacteria, and terrestrial arthropods such as fireflies.
Luminescent bacteria emit light as the result of a chemical reaction during which chemical energy is converted to light energy. Luminescent bacteria exist as symbiotic organisms carried within a larger organism, such as many deep sea organisms, including the Lantern Fish, the Angler fish, certain jellyfish, certain clams and the Gulper eel.
Photuris female by flash photography (above); by her own light (below) Light production in fireflies is due to the chemical process of bioluminescence. This occurs in specialized light-emitting organs, usually on a female firefly's lower abdomen. The enzyme luciferase acts on luciferin, in the presence of magnesium ions, ATP, and oxygen to ...
Structure of Photinus pyralis firefly luciferase. Firefly luciferase is the light-emitting enzyme responsible for the bioluminescence of fireflies and click beetles. The enzyme catalyses the oxidation of firefly luciferin, requiring oxygen and ATP. Because of the requirement of ATP, firefly luciferases have been used extensively in biotechnology.