Mayflies are aquatic insects belonging to the order Ephemeroptera. This order is part of an ancient group of insects termed the Palaeoptera, which also contains dragonflies and damselflies. Over 3,000 species of mayfly are known worldwide, grouped into over 400 genera in 42 families.
Baetidae is a family of mayflies with about 1000 described species in 110 genera distributed worldwide. These are among the smallest of mayflies, adults rarely exceeding 10 mm in length excluding the two long slender tails and sometimes much smaller, and members of the family are often referred to as small mayflies or small minnow mayflies. Most species have long oval forewings with very few cross veins but the hindwings are usually very small or even absent. The males often have very large eyes, shaped like turrets above the head.
Baetis is a genus of mayflies of the family Baetidae, known as the blue-winged olive to anglers. There are at least 150 described species in Baetis. They are distributed worldwide, with the most variety in North America and northern Europe.
Ecdyonurus is a genus of mayflies of the family Heptageniidae.
Cinygmula is a genus of flatheaded mayflies in the family Heptageniidae. There are at least 30 described species in Cinygmula.
Heptagenia is a genus of flatheaded mayflies in the family Heptageniidae. There are at least 20 described species in Heptagenia.
Heterocloeon is a genus of small minnow mayflies in the family Baetidae. There are about nine described species in Heterocloeon.
Labiobaetis is a genus of mayflies in the family Baetidae.
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.
Ametropodidae is a family of mayflies in the order Ephemeroptera. There are at least three genera and three described species in Ametropodidae.
Potamanthus huoshanensis is a species of hacklegilled burrower mayfly in the family Potamanthidae.
Callibaetis montanus is a species of small minnow mayfly in the family Baetidae. It is found in Central America and North America. In North America its range includes all of Mexico and the southwestern United States.
Drunella spinifera is a species of spiny crawler mayfly in the family Ephemerellidae. It is found in southwestern and northern Canada and the western United States and Alaska.
Chane is a genus of small minnow mayflies in the family Baetidae. There is at least one described species in Chane, C. baure.
Teloganodidae is a family of mayflies belonging to Ephemerelloidea, native to the Afrotropical and Oriental realms.
Nigrobaetis is a genus of small minnow mayflies in the family Baetidae. There are more than 30 described species in Nigrobaetis, found in Europe, Africa, and Asia.
Alainites is a genus of Palaearctic and Oriental mayflies in the family Baetidae, erected by R.D. Waltz et al. in 1994. About eight species are predominantly European, with A. muticus(Linnaeus, 1758) previously considered a species group of the genus Baetis. The latter is sometimes called the "iron blue", although this name is used by anglers to include at least two species in the related genus Nigrobaetis and has a widespread distribution, including the British Isles.
