Which statement about adult mayflies is correct?

Which statement about adult mayflies is correct?

• A. They do not eat and may live only a few hours to a couple of days
• B. They eat nectar and live for months
• C. They spend most of their life as larvae
• D. They are aquatic their entire life

Answer: (A)

Adult mayflies have a very brief winged stage whose main purpose is reproduction. After spending most of their life as aquatic nymphs, they emerge as adults with mouthparts that are reduced or nonfunctional, so they generally do not feed. Because they rely on the energy stored during the long larval period, their adult lifespan is short—often only a few hours to a couple of days. This makes the statement that they do not eat and live only a short time the best description of the adult stage. The other ideas don’t fit the adult phase: they are not active feeders for months, they do not spend the majority of their life as larvae in terms of describing the adult life stage, and they are not aquatic for their entire life.

Adult mayflies have a very brief winged stage whose main purpose is reproduction. After spending most of their life as aquatic nymphs, they emerge as adults with mouthparts that are reduced or nonfunctional, so they generally do not feed. Because they rely on the energy stored during the long larval period, their adult lifespan is short—often only a few hours to a couple of days. This makes the statement that they do not eat and live only a short time the best description of the adult stage.

The other ideas don’t fit the adult phase: they are not active feeders for months, they do not spend the majority of their life as larvae in terms of describing the adult life stage, and they are not aquatic for their entire life.