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I found this Mayfly near my Moth trap on 10/05/08.

I have a small wildlife pond in the garden.

Is it Ephemera vulgata?

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Certainly Ephemera sp. but looks more like Ephemera lineata to me - the rarer of our 3 species :) E.vulgata is on the wing now but the dark abdomenal markings are more like 'vampires teeth' than the thin pairs of lines on yours. Would be nice to see the abdomen clearer though.

BTW, Ephemera lineata and vulgata are species of slow-flowing muddy rivers, such as the Thames. But I get them in my garden way up in Tilehurst, a good few miles from the Thames, so they do fly a fair distance sometimes.

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Not sure about this Chris - 10 May would be very early for E. lineata :o. I've seen it in mid-late June once or twice but it doesn't really get going till July does it? I think the markings are okay for E. vulgata - if Tony could do us a close-up of the abdomen we could probably confirm it.

Martin

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Maybe - it just looks a bit pale and the markings looked a bit thin to me ... but a closer look would solve the problem :) Dates for things have been a bit mixed up this year.

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Does this picture help?

Tony.

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Well, it's not quite the text-book pattern for any of the three species, but I reckon it is closest to E. vulgata, see if Chris agrees!

Martin

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Hang on a minute ... that insect is upside down isn't it (hind wing overlaps wrongly and I see legs uppermost)? If that is the underside then all bets are off - never really looked at underside patterns :( If they are anything like the upperside then it's closest to vulgata but I think this one will have to remain Ephemera sp. :)

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Well-spotted Chris, I'd missed that completely! In which case I agree that we can't know the species. Perhaps it is possible to identify them from the underside but if so I don't know how!

Martin