The Almost Official
MAYFLY
PAGE

(If you can get official about mayflies)

Sometime around the middle of May and lasting through June and into July, there is a plague of insects that strikes the city of Port Clinton, Ohio, and other Lake Erie shoreline cities, towns, and villages. This plague is outdone only by those described in the Bible (or so it seems that way to townsfolk) of great hordes of insects invading the land and laying it to waste. Fortunately, this insect is totally harmless... unless you are sliding on them in your car. They are drawn to any light source - coating the sides of buildings and telephone poles. They are actually a handsome bug... windswept transparent wings, two long graceful tails no thicker than a hair, streamlined body... the main problem... they stink like dead fish! What am I talking about, you ask.... The now famous Mayflies of Port Clinton, Ohio!

What's in a Name?
They are known by several names - June Bug, Mayfly, Canadian Soldier, Fish Fly... and a few others that I will not print here due to... well... this is a family show. Their official scientific name is 'Hexagenia'. Throughout this page I will refer to them now as mayflies. There has been some confusion with some fine people from New York thinking I was refering to their 'june bug' which, best as I can understand from their descriptions, is a type of beetle. I will now call them mayflies here as that name does not seem to be taken and mayflies are nothing like a beetle.

Fish or Cut Bait
Fisherman hate the lowly mayfly because, basically, fish would rather eat mayflies than plastic lures. Fishing takes a nosedive during mayfly season and, boy, that's bad news for a town that calls itself the 'Walleye Capitol of the World!' There's a good many charter boat captains that ain't too happy about it.


A mayfly after he sheds his skin.

Just the Facts, Ma'am
Here's some interesting facts about our winged wonder.

Mayflies usually live for 24-72 hours. Don't forget that they've already spent 1-2 years on the bottom of the lake as a nymph living burrowed in the mud. Within that three days, though, they manage to get into about everything you can imagine. I have dead mayflies lying around on the sidewalks, in spider webs, on the back porch, etc. They'll go anywhere where's there's light at night. Wear a white shirt outside at night and you'll see what I mean.

Many mayfiles stack up on the streets below street lights. This is where they land after they get tired of flying around the light for hours on end. Once on the street, they are usually run over by cars and make this "snapping" sound and it's all over. If its dry, they turn into a dust after several hours of traffic. If it's raining, they turn into a thick soup that smells something awful (read 'real dead fish'). The City of Port Clinton has gained approval from the Environmental Protection Agency for the very first mayfly composting site in America! Now isn't that quite a claim to fame. That may even be better than Port Clinton's locally known name - 'Parking lot for Put-In-Bay!'


Mayflies covering grape leaves.

The Juice on the Bug . . . BugJuice?
Mayflies live on the bottom of lakes, rivers, ponds, reservoirs or some other body of water as a nymph. After one to two years they make their way to the top of the water to molt again. I have spoken to witnesses of this event. They describe the bug as 'popping' to the top as their exoskeleton splits. There are a few seconds to a few minutes before they become airborne where they are spinning around at the surface and may become a fish snack. If they do clear the water, their troubles are not over. Bats and birds also find them a tasty morsel. If they do survive (and, believe me, MANY DO) and make it to a light or to land, just hanging around seems to be the order of business. That's why Port Clinton shuts off all street lights within a block of the lake... so the poor things can't find their way in to land! Some time within the next 24-48 hours they shed their skin. Later, on this page, you will see actual photos of this event. Mayflies have no mouth or digestive tract so you are in no fear of being eaten or bit by one. They will land on you, though, especially if you have on a white shirt! Don't worry, they're one of the neater bugs you'll ever meet.


Mayflies covering the front of a house in Port Clinton.

History Lesson
The return of the friendly mayfly is attributed to Lake Erie being its cleanest in years. Part of this may very well be due to the arrival of the Zebra Mussels from Europe. The zebra mussel was brought to Lake Erie in ballast water dumped from ocean freighters. These minature clam looking things have raised havok in every possible way on anything related to the lake. The one positive thing they have done is clean up the water.

My mother can remember being a little girl growing up in Sandusky, Ohio in the 1930's (before the days of great pollution) and watching the mayflies swarm into town. Cars would slide on the piles of mayflies in the street and cause accidents. From what I have read and heard from the old timers, we are not at the point it was before Lake Erie was polluted, but, if mayfly populations keep improving, I believe we'll get to that point again. Port Clinton now posts signs at several entrances to the city warning of slippery road conditions due to the mayfly hatch.


A sight that probably hasn't been seen since the early 1900's - a mayfly that snuck into my house and was attracted to the light from my Aladdin Model 11 kerosene lamp. Time to get out the bug screen!
Greensburg Pike General Store

Varieties
Mayfly bodies measure about one inch long and tails range from 1/2 to 3 inches in length. Color and size vary, but I have categorized them into 2 main groups. The larger variety I have named Golden Kings and the smaller ones Black Longtails. Golden Kings are larger with a yellowish golden color. They normally have shorter tails (sometimes forked in a V shape) but the tail may be longer after they shed. The Black Longtails have smaller, very dark, bodies and longer tails.
Side by side comparison of a Golden King (foreground) and a Black Longtail.

A Golden King on a grape leaf.



Swarms of Mayflies
In the evening sky, you can see them swarming... well, not swarming... just flying around like crazy. They're not the greatest flyers, but they do well enough to get around. I watched one behind the house one afternoon out of the breeze where he could fly without getting blown. He would fly up to the height of the house peak then spread his wings and glide back down to about ten feet above the ground. Then flutter back up... and glide back down. I was reminded of the book Jonathon Livingston Seagull. He did this for about ten minutes until he flew away out of sight.

Lining a picket fence I built in 1999.

Mayflies are more plentiful on odd number years. The Mayflies plan for this... no, just kidding. 1998 was a light year and 1999 turned out to be a bumper crop of June Bugs!! The city turned out all street lights within 1 block of the lake. This doesn't help much as every night you can watch them fill the air at dusk. I was again reminded of the locust plague mentioned in the Bible. It's quite a site.

On the evening of June 22, 2003, the sun had set and mayflies filled the skies around Port Clinton. I attempted to capture them on camera. These pics give you a fairly good idea what it looked like. After you've viewed each pic, just click your back button to return to this page.
Mayfly swarm photo 1
Mayfly swarm photo 2

Every black speck you see against the blue sky is a mayfly in flight.




Shedding caught on FILM!!!!
These remarkable pics were taken on the south side of my previous home in mid June 1999. They show the shedding, or molting, process that many mayflies undergo. After I remembered what the bugs do just before shedding, it was easier to find one. What is that, you ask? Normally june bugs keep their wings up and together and their bodies arched proudly back with their two front legs up and together. When they are ready to shed, they get a firm grip with all six legs (they also do that in windy conditions - like on your car windshield at 40 mph) and spread their wings out flat against whatever they happen to be hanging on to. You can literally watch them crawl out of their skin. The process usually takes about 5 minutes. After they molt, I see no visible difference. They look exactly the same as before.

Sometimes, if their grip wasn't good enough, the legs will let go and they will be caught half in and half out with no way to pull themselves out of the skin. They usually get out, though and what is left is a white shell that weighs almost nothing and come floating down like snowflakes when the wind blows them off whatever they're attached to. You can find thousands of skins in the grass or on the edge of sidewalks where the wind blows them into piles.

Just gettin' started'PULL!!!''PULL!!!'
Almost thereA little moreAhhhhhh!
Whoa... better get a gripHangin' onGettin' the rear out
Pullin' the tail outFree at last!


1999 saw these guys make headway inland as far as 40+ miles from Lake Erie. They were either blown in or are also living in the river. In the case of Pemberville, OH, I find it very hard to believe that june bugs flew that far inland. They are apparently thriving in rivers. Pemberville has the Portage River running through the heart of it - and Pemberville has Street Lights!

Minature May Flies!
On a 1999 excursion to South Bass Island and Put-In-Bay, Ohio, I discovered a tiny version of our friendly flyer on a gentleman's back ahead of us in line. This entire bug measured no more than three-quarters of an inch long - head, tail, and all! What a time to be without my camera! Hopefully, I will come across one again... with camera in hand.




MAYFLY WATCH
Yearly Table of Appearances

 In Port Clinton, Ohio, USA

YearDate of
First Sightings
Date of
Last Sightings
Concentration
1998??Heavy
1999May 15?August 25Very Heavy
2000June 1September 15Light
2001May 29August 10light to Moderate
2002May 16August 4Started Heavy but tapered off after July 1
2003June 13September 5Started light, a few heavy days, then a moderate season
2004May 28August 20Moderate season with some heavy days
2005June 5 September 20 Came in heavy on June 17th - steady season
2006June 8 - -
As I no longer live in Pt. Clinton, I will not be able to update this table. Sorry about that.

Latest News
September 26, 2007
Where I live now is around 30 miles from the Lake Erie shore. I see the occasional mayfly here, too!. In fact I just saw one tonight. This is a bigger deal to me now because I'm lucky to see more than four or five of them in an entire season - especially in late September!!

June 10, 2006
I spotted a small mayfly in Bowling Green, Ohio - actually he landed on me!! Bowling Green is a good hour drive from Lake Erie. Yes, I would say mayflies are in the rivers.

June 20, 2003
A strong northern wind off the lake and warmer temperatures combined to finally bring in huge amounts of mayflies on Friday evening. On Saturday morning, it was difficult walking in and out of the house without several catching a ride on your shirt. All the houses in the area are covered with our winged wonders! After a slow start with just a few showing up every night, they made a full showing on Friday evening.

Whoops...
On about June 1st, 2003, Port Clinton was inundated with large swarms of bugs. Our local daily newspaper jumped right on the story and had it front page - the Mayflies have returned but are smaller this year. After all the locals quit laughing, they informed the paper that the bugs were indeed muffleheads and not the famed mayflies. Muffleheads are harmless bugs that are similar to mosquitos and just slightly larger - and they don't bite.

Magazine Article
The National Geographic Magazine did an article on the mayflies of Hungary's Tisza River. See the May 2003 issue. The article has some superb photos. Their mayflies are somewhat different from ours having large bug eyes and blue wings.
Thanks goes to Suzanne Fickes at Ohio State University for sending me a copy of the magazine.


More Info...
For more technical and scientific information on the mayfly, please visit the link below and search on hexagenia.
http://http://ohioseagrant.osu.edu/
Here's a very good article by Mr. Ken Kreiger, Research Associate, Water Quality Laboratory, Heidelberg College, Tiffin Ohio.
Mayflies and Lake Erie
Also, while you're on the OSU Sea Grant page, check out the information on Stone Laboratory, located on Gibraltar Island which is right next to South Bass Island (Put-In-Bay). Tours are available and recommended. A great place to learn about Lake Erie. Did you know, for example, that Lake Erie, which has less water than any of the other Great Lakes, has more fish than the other four Great Lakes--COMBINED? The mayfly is just part of the reason. Thanks to my former neighbor, Roger Long, for helping me with this info.

As I come up with more information on our friendly little flyers, I'll post it here.

Comments? Information? Let me know.
If you would like to use any information or photos from this page for anything other than educational purposes, please ask first. I've spent many hours putting all the info and this page together. I would also appreciate a link back to this page if you do borrow something.

  Contact John at:   john@johnbob.net

Please check out the rest of my site - who knows what you'll find!

Disclaimer
Please don't take all the information on this page as gospel truth. Most is only MY observations of what I think is a pretty neat bug.




Last page update - 1.30.2008
Copyright © 1998-2008
John R. Lucas
All Rights Reserved.