Darwin's Amazing Animals
Blooming of the Tisza ― Long-Tailed Mayfly, Hungary
TV-Y7
S4 • E9 Sep 18, 2020The "Blooming of the Tisza" is a grand spectacle that appears like countless blossoms covering the Tisza River's surface, along with a shower of swirling petals. Sound romantic? Here's a little secret: those "flowers" and "petals" are actually millions of bugs! The long-tailed mayfly, Europe's biggest mayfly, reaches about 13 centimeters in its brief adult stage. Threats abound in and out of the water, yet it spends those precious few hours in a furious quest to mate, with surprising results.