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PLATE CXXVIII.
EPHEMERA VULGATA,
Common Ephemera, or May-Fly.
Wings 4. Naked, transparent, reticulated with veins or nerves."Fail without a sting.
GENERIC CHARACTER.
Antennæ very short. Two protuberances before the eyes. Wingserect. Second pair small. Two or three tails like bristles. Shortlived.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER.
Wings reticulated, brownish with five or six brown spots. Bodyyellowish, with black specks. Three tails.
Ephemera VuIgata: cauda triseta, alis nebuloso maculatis.
Linn. Syji. Nat. 2. 906. I. Fn. Sv. 1472.
In the larva and pupa state, this Insect is found under loose stonesat the bottom of shallow pools ; in the winged state it frequents theWater.
We have several species of this genus in England. The Ephe-mera VuIgata, is the largest among them. A very distinguishingcharacter of them is the shortness of their lives, which seldom ex-ceeds a few hours. In the month of May these Insects are seen ingreat plenty on the water, where they are greedily devoured by thehsh ; anglers fay, when the large Ephemera appears, the trout willlhap at no other bait, than the artificial fly made after its form.—>In some specimens the wings are more clouded, and the tails longeritan in others.
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