Cloeon dipterum - male

Bad image of a male Cloen dipterum for discussion here:

Note: The animal in this image seems to match the diagnosis for Cloeon inscriptum quite nicely. Fauna Europaea handles this as a good species, whereas the Dutch biodiversity platform will have it synonymized with Cloeon dipterum. I'm currently trying to find out what the latest published scrutiny on the matter was ...

comments (2)

Ferdy Christant

Lion

Amazing! What are the yellow appendages on the head? I suppose they are not eyes?
And how do you find these? I can't recall ever seeing one. Posted 7 years ago
1. Pudding4brains
  
  Lion
  
  Yes these are actually referred to in the literature as "turbinate eyes" or sometimes "muffin eyes" - only the males carry these and their shape and colours are often of the species delimitation.
  In Dutch the order is called "Eendagsvliegen" (One day flies) so you can imagine that the adult flies are quite short lived. The larvae develop in water and the flies are often snatched and eaten by birds and the like the moment they hatch and try to fly away from the water surface (oooohhhhhh!!). You can find thousands of Mayflies around canals, rivers and the IJsselmeer if you hit it on the right day (or a few days, actually) Posted 7 years ago

The Cloeon dipterum

''Cloeon dipterum'' is a species of mayfly with a Holarctic distribution. It is the most common mayfly in ponds in the British Isles and the only ovoviviparous mayfly in Europe. Males differ from females in having turbinate eyes.

Info 9 0

Similar species: Mayflies

Species identified by Pudding4brains