---
title: "What the sources say about the Green Drake Mayfly | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "37 claims from the Green Drake Mayfly profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it."
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---

# What the sources say about the Green Drake Mayfly (*Ephemera danica*)

> 37 claims from the Green Drake Mayfly profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it. A "..." marks a cut in a quote and [brackets] an insertion.

Profile: [Green Drake Mayfly](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/green-drake-mayfly/)

## Fritz et al. (2020). Bioreplicated coatings for photovoltaic solar panels nearly eliminate light pollution that harms polarotactic insects. PLOS ONE.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0243296

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| A burrowing mayfly that finds rivers by their polarized glint | (Ephemera danica) detects water with the horizontal polarization of water-reflected light (note: tagline) |
| lands on smooth black plastic too | The smooth black plastic (SBP) was the most attractive to mayflies (note: tagline) |
| Detects water by the horizontal polarization of the light it reflects | Ephemera danica detects water with the horizontal polarization of water-reflected light (note: stats.superpower) |
| Light reflected off water is horizontally polarized | detects water with the horizontal polarization of water-reflected light |
| Ephemera danica detects water with that signal. | Ephemera danica detects water with the horizontal polarization of water-reflected light |
| The more strongly a surface reflects horizontally polarized light, the more attractive it is to mayflies like this one. | the higher the degree of horizontal polarization of surface-reflected light, the more attractive the respective surface is to polarotactic mayflies (note: 'like this one': the paper treats E. danica as polarotactic) |
| smooth black plastic was the most attractive surface on offer | The smooth black plastic (SBP) was the most attractive to mayflies, the attractiveness of the glass-covered rose petal (GRP) was weaker, and the rose petal (RP) was practically unattractive to Ephemera danica |
| A cover textured like a rose petal was practically unattractive to them. | the rose petal (RP) was practically unattractive to Ephemera danica |
| On each test day, between 18:30 and 19:15, mainly males flew around the surfaces at first. | On each experimental day between 18:30 and 19:15, mainly male Ephemera danica mayflies were observed around the test surfaces. |
| mainly males flew around the surfaces | mainly male Ephemera danica mayflies were observed around the test surfaces |
| Then, in the second phase of swarming, most of the landing mayflies were females, often with visible egg batches. | in the second phase of swarming, the majority of landing specimens were females often with visible egg-batches (note: 'most' paraphrases the paper's 'the majority') |
| Sometimes they laid those egg batches on the test surfaces. | Sometimes they laid their egg-batches on the test surfaces. |
| In the evening swarm, mainly males fly first, then a second phase arrives, mostly females, often carrying egg batches. | in the second phase of swarming, the majority of landing specimens were females often with visible egg-batches (note: vibe.reason; restates body claims (this quote, plus the body claims for the rest of the sentence)) |

## Verberk et al. (2016). Field and laboratory studies reveal interacting effects of stream oxygenation and warming on aquatic ectotherms. Global Change Biology.

https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13240

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Sandy stretches of streams and rivers where the nymphs burrow | occupying the depositional zones of streams and rivers with a sandy bottom where the nymphs construct a tubular burrow in the sediment (note: stats.habitat) |
| Nymphs filter or collect fine particulate organic detritus | feed by filtering or collecting fine particulate organic detritus (note: stats.diet) |
| This is a large mayfly. | Ephemera danica , Müller 1764 is a large mayfly |
| live in the depositional zones of streams and rivers with a sandy bottom | occupying the depositional zones of streams and rivers with a sandy bottom |
| construct a tubular burrow in the sediment and feed by filtering or collecting fine particulate organic detritus | the nymphs construct a tubular burrow in the sediment and feed by filtering or collecting fine particulate organic detritus |
| Nymphs collected from a Devon river for lab tests weighed between 15 and 128 mg fresh. | Mayfly nymphs for laboratory experiments were collected in spring (early May) from Torrington River, Devon, UK, ranging in fresh weight between 15 and 128 mg ( E. danica ) |
| the main flight period is towards the end of May, though adults are often present between April and November | The main flight period is towards the end of May, however adults are often present between April and November. |
| hypoxia (low oxygen) lowered their lethal limits for warming by 5.5 °C | Hypoxia lowered lethal limits by 5.5 °C (±2.13) and 8.2 °C (±0.62) for E. danica and S. ignita respectively. (note: FAQ; lethal limits of warming per 'lethal impacts of warming were assessed under three oxygen conditions') |
| poor oxygenation drastically reduced how many sites they occupied, especially in warm water | poor oxygenation drastically reduced site occupancy, and reductions were especially pronounced under warm water conditions (note: FAQ; field data covered both species and UK stream samples) |

## Grzybkowska et al. (2016). Ephemera danica (Ephemeroptera: Ephemeridae) As a Resource for Two Commensals: Ciliated Protozoans (Sessilida) and Chironomids (Diptera). Journal of Insect Science.

https://doi.org/10.1093/jisesa/iew050

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| In two Polish rivers, small mayflies (optimal size 11.63 mm) were mainly settled by ciliated protozoans, and larger ones (optimal size 28.77 mm) by midge larvae. | small mayflies (optimal size 11.63 mm) were primarily settled by ciliated protozoans while larger specimens (optimal size 28.77 mm) were settled by chironomids (note: body length was measured, per the Methods; two Polish rivers, Bzura and Mroga) |
| researchers in two Polish rivers found between 0 and 18 midge larvae and from 0 to 46 ciliate colonies | The number of commensals on a single mayfly specimen varied between 0 and 18 chironomids, and from 0 to 46 colonies of ciliates. |

## Everall et al. (2015). Detecting phenology change in the mayfly Ephemera danica: responses to spatial and temporal water temperature variations. Ecological Entomology.

https://doi.org/10.1111/een.12164

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| widespread throughout Europe | the mayfly Ephemera danica Müller which is widespread throughout Europe (note: stats.habitat and body) |
| Not Evaluated | the mayfly Ephemera danica Müller which is widespread throughout Europe (note: stats.conservationStatus. No Red List assessment: the prefetch found no category in GBIF's copy of the Red List and no Crossref assessment DOI for Ephemera danica, and the Red List was not searched by hand beyond that. The page is cited for the species name only. Precedent great-scallop.) |
| Across 2007 to 2013, E. danica at a cool, groundwater-fed reach of England's River Dove kept a 2-year emergence cycle. | E. danica were monitored at two thermally contrasting reaches in the River Dove, English Peak District over the period 2007–2013 ... In Dovedale, E. danica maintained a 2-year cycle throughout the monitoring period (note: Dovedale: 'dominated by near constant discharges of cool groundwater'; 'emergence cycle' from point 3 of the abstract) |
| after warm summers it emerged after only 1 year at the warmer upstream reach, then began to revert to a two-year cycle after the particularly wet, cool year of 2012 | After warm summers E. danica emerged after only 1 year in Beresford Dale but began to revert to a bi‐annual cycle after the particularly wet/cool year of 2012 (note: FAQ; Beresford Dale is the upstream site and 'accumulated on average 374 more GDDs than Dovedale'; River Dove, Peak District per point 2) |
| A two-year cycle | In Dovedale, E. danica maintained a 2-year cycle throughout the monitoring period (note: heading) |

## Yohannes & Rothhaupt (2018). Dietary nutrient allocation to somatic tissue synthesis in emerging subimago freshwater mayfly Ephemera danica. BMC Ecology.

https://doi.org/10.1186/s12898-018-0213-9

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| adults do not feed | adult insects do not feed during this period but do utilize energy (note: stats.diet; the sentence says 'during this period', and the body keeps that wording) |
| emerging adults have been collected in the littoral zone of Lake Constance in Germany | Emergent E. danica were collected in a single sampling event in July 2011 in the littoral zone of Lake Constance |
| As adults they do not feed, but they do use energy. | adult insects do not feed during this period but do utilize energy (note: 'during this period' in the source is the adult stage, contrasted with the feeding burrowing nymph phase) |
| terrestrial detritus (dead plant material from land) was the dominant nutrient source for the abdomen, head and wing, at 57%, 65% and 73% on average | terrestrial detritus was the dominant nutrient source for abdomen, head and wing with mean values of 57%, 65% and 73%, respectively (note: FAQ; the parenthetical is a reader's gloss) |

## Winkelmann & Koop (2007). The management of metabolic energy storage during the life cycle of mayflies: a comparative field investigation of the collector-gatherer Ephemera danica and the scraper Rhithrogena semicolorata. Journal of Comparative Physiology B.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-006-0114-7

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| In a study of the nymphs of this mayfly and another one, triglycerides, a type of fat, were the major energy reserve throughout development, at more than 84% of total energy storage in both | This is the first publication which focuses on the role of metabolic energy sources during the larval life span of two mayfly species until the larvae emerge. Although triglycerides are the major energy reserve in both species (>84% of total energy storage) throughout the whole larval development (note: 'both' = E. danica and Rhithrogena semicolorata; 'a type of fat' is a reader's gloss) |
| In male nymphs the triglyceride concentrations remained high until emergence, presumably because of the high energy demands of their swarming flights as adults. | In male E. danica the triglyceride concentrations remained high until emergence, presumably due to their high energy demands as adults for their swarming flights. (note: male larvae per the preceding sentence; 'because' paraphrases the paper's 'presumably due to', hedge kept) |

## Common mayfly. The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales.

https://www.welshwildlife.org/wildlife-explorer/invertebrates/other-insects/common-mayfly

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| 1.5 to 3.0 cm long | Scientific name
Ephemera danica ... Length: 1.5-3.0cm (note: the trust's species statistics for Ephemera danica) |
| known both as the common mayfly and the green drake mayfly | Also known as the 'green drake mayfly', the common mayfly |