• picture
  • picture
  • picture
  • picture
Public Radio's Environmental News Magazine (follow us on Google News)

The Living on Earth Almanac

Air Date: Week of

This week, facts about... Mayflies.

Transcript

CURWOOD: May, of course, is the appropriate month to talk about mayflies. The oldest order of winged insects in existence, mayflies are born with gills and live underwater in streams and lakes for about two years as larvae, before emerging as a swarm in the spring. Mayflies that make it past hungry fish to the surface spend much of their one day of free-flying adulthood buzzing near lights and lampposts. Then by the billions they fall to Earth, and can make a slimy mush on roads and windshields. Around Lake Erie, most people consider them a nuisance, but the fact that mayflies do swarm there is a testament to the improving health of the lake. Mayflies have a low tolerance for pollution, so their presence is a good indicator of water quality. And along the shores of Lake Erie, some communities are trying to make the best of the billions of dead insects. They're looking into ways to compost the massive mounds of carcasses into a mayfly mulch. And for this week, that's the Living on Earth Almanac.

 

 

Living on Earth wants to hear from you!

Living on Earth
62 Calef Highway, Suite 212
Lee, NH 03861
Telephone: 617-287-4121
E-mail: comments@loe.org

Newsletter [Click here]

Donate to Living on Earth!
Living on Earth is an independent media program and relies entirely on contributions from listeners and institutions supporting public service. Please donate now to preserve an independent environmental voice.

Newsletter
Living on Earth offers a weekly delivery of the show's rundown to your mailbox. Sign up for our newsletter today!

Sailors For The Sea: Be the change you want to sea.

Creating positive outcomes for future generations.

Innovating to make the world a better, more sustainable place to live. Listen to the race to 9 billion

The Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment: Committed to protecting and improving the health of the global environment.

Contribute to Living on Earth and receive, as our gift to you, an archival print of one of Mark Seth Lender's extraordinary wildlife photographs. Follow the link to see Mark's current collection of photographs.

Buy a signed copy of Mark Seth Lender's book Smeagull the Seagull & support Living on Earth