Just three hours after they hatched from the water and moulted into a mature animal, the male long-tailed mayflies (Palingenia longicauda) perish. During theit aquatic larval stages they gathered enough energy to power this short airborne life with the single aim of reproduction.

• Contributor: mauritius images GmbH / Alamy Stock Photo
• Image ID: 2C6602T
• File size: 49.4 MB (2.5 MB Compressed download)
• Releases: Model - no | Property - no
• Dimensions: 5100 x 3387 px | 43.2 x 28.7 cm | 17 x 11.3 inches | 300dpi
• Date taken: 1 July 2008
• Photographer: Solvin Zankl

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Just three hours after they hatched from the water and moulted into a mature animal, the male long-tailed mayflies (Palingenia longicauda) perish. During theit aquatic larval stages they gathered enough energy to power this short airborne life with the single aim of reproduction. Flying long-tailed mayflies have no mouth opening and no guts. The dead animals slowly float downstream, sometimes congregating into flower-like clusters. Tisza blooming (Tiszavirágzás). It is when millions of long-tailed mayflies (Palingenia longicauda) are rising in huge clouds, reproduce, and perish, all in just a few hours.