There are 2,500 species of mayflies and I have no idea what this one is, but I can tell you it was photographed in May. Imagine that. It was the only one I saw at the time. We have what is called “The Hatch” here in Michigan around the Great Lakes in mid-summer. I swam through it once while driving my car one evening. I mean it. Swam! It was like driving through a blizzard. When I stopped to fill my tank, the lights near the pumps had attracted a bazillion of them. They live from 30 minutes to just a day in their adult form after spending at least a year as naiads in lakes and streams. Carcasses sometimes accumulate like snowdrifts.
The June bug was photographed in June although several species answering to the same name and can be seen in other months. They aren’t “bugs,” they’re beetles. This one was staggering around on the millpond walkway. The large forewings, called elytra, aren’t used for flight. They are hard shields protecting the body and foldable hindwings. This beetle appears to have a damaged right hindwing.
Click either image to see larger versions for more detail. The cement walk under the June bug is fun to look at, too. It’s loaded with pebbles of all colors.
