FECUNDITY OF MAYFLIES (EPHEMEROPTERA), WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO MAYFLIES OF A BROWN-WATER STREAM OF ALBERTA, CANADA

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
A review of studies of mayfly fecundity (number of eggs produced per life span) indicates that some of the larger mayflies, e.g. Palingenia and Hexagenia, have total potential fecundity values that are higher than found in most other insect groups. For 12 mayfly species of a brown-water stream in Alberta, Canada, fecundity of the subimagoes was generally predictable from the size of the female regardless of the particular species. An exception was Leptophlebia cupida, which, for a given length, had a much higher fecundity than any of the other species and a much larger increase in fecundity per unit increase in body length. L. cupida averaged 362 eggs/mm body length, while the other species had an average egg production of between 100 and 200 eggs/mm body length. The small species, although having a relatively low total fecundity, produced more eggs per unit volume of abdominal space than did the larger species. By combining quantitative emergence data and fecundity data, we calculated that the entire mayfly fauna produced about 300,000 eggs/m2 per year and that it takes an average of 934 eggs to produce one subimago of the next generation.