Life history of Ephemera wuchowensis Hsu, 1937 (Ephemeroptera: Ephemeridae) in a northern subtropical stream in Central China

Ephemera wuchowensis Hsu, 1937 is a commonly encountered and widely distributed burrowing mayfly species in China, but its biological traits are poorly understood. In this study, we investigated the life history of E. wuchowensis using the size-frequency method at three sites along a creek in Central China. Monthly samples of larvae were taken from January to December 2017. The life history of E. wuchowensis was found to be univoltine in this northern subtropical region, and there were no significant differences among the sites based on the size-frequency histograms. Unlike the emergence of congeneric species, which inhabit southern subtropical monsoon streams and are showed to be highly synchronised with a relatively short flight period, the adults of E. wuchowensis has a long emergence period from April to September with two distinct peaks of emergence: the first from April to June, and the second from August to September.