Mayfly

Just as the mundane events in life bog you down and just as you are rushing through life as if nothing else matters  ...The life cycle of a humble mayfly puts it all in perspective and you pause in awe...


http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/alien-empire/mayflies/3413/



http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/Rhithrogena_germanica_subimago_on_Equisetum_hyemale.jpg

A little fly that starts life as an egg; an egg that is deposited on the surface of the water by it's dying mother, while she dips her tail in and out of the water every few feet, hovering above the water as if to dodge death, just buying enough time until she performs her motherly duties of squeezing out, depositing the last of her eggs.

Sometimes the eggs are just dropped from the air on to  the surface of the water  by the dying mother. Other times, the mother falls dead on the surface of the water with the eggs still inside...

The eggs, however hatch and as orphans they begin life as nymphs and live  under the water for about a year, they then emerge from the water as sub-imago, live in that form for a couple of hours, and then, sheds its skin again to transform into an imago (complete flying adult Mayfly ).

As an imago the female flies  have less than five minutes to fly, find a mate, copulate and lay eggs. 

The females lay eggs and die over the water ;  while the males die a little after.


"Researchers believe the record for shortest adult life span belongs to the female mayfly called Dolania americana. After spending a year or more living on the bottom of a stream in its aquatic nymph form, it emerges as a flying adult — and lives for less than five minutes. During its brief adult life, the mayfly must find a mate, copulate, and lay its eggs back into the water from which it came".  http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/alien-empire/mayflies/3413/