Fishflies.

Tom Kysilko pds at VISI.COM
Thu Jun 14 04:02:11 UTC 2001


My cousin is a bug specialist at the LaCrosse WI DNR station.  I'll see if
she can shed any light.  In the meantime, DARE has (paraphasing):
1. fly of some genera of the family Corydalidae.  Cites not very localized.
2. = mayfly.  "Chiefly Gt Lakes, Upper MW"  incl a 1983 cite from Madison
WI: "Millions of smelly, sticky fish flies are making highways slick,
blacking out windows and piling  up a foot deep as the die in an annual
invasion of Mississippi River towns ... also know as mayflies and Mormon
flies..."
3. = flesh fly.  cites from MI, MN, WA
4. A bluebottle fly.  cite from RI.

--Tom Kysilko

At 02:46 PM 6/13/2001 -0500, Mark Odegard wrote:
>'Fishfly' is a regional item.
>
>On the stretch of the Mississippi River I live near to, we have fishflies.
>After the first few days of hot weather, they turn into brief-lived winged
>insects in order to breed. By the gazillions. Some years are worse than
>others, but thankfully, the invasion is short-lived, and they confine
>themselves mostly to the area around the river (winds can carry them miles
>away, however). The morning after, you can have huge heaps (a foot or two or
>three) of dead insects, particularly around lights. They often turn off
>bridge lights and city street lights during fishfly nights. It's that awful,
>Hitchcockian in scope.
>
>I saw the season's first fishfly today. We're rather far from their normal
>range of a mile or three inland from the river, but it's windy today.
>
>For this part of the country (Dubuque and up north), I don't know the formal
>name of the local critter. Ephemeroptera or Megaloptera come to mind. The
>dictionaries at hand are not too helpful, at least for 'fishfly'. The mayfly
>seems to be a different critter, tho' it has similar habits.
>
>
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  Tom Kysilko        Practical Data Services
  pds at visi.com       Saint Paul MN USA



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