Bug FAQTisa Mayfly
Palingenia longicauda · Order: Ephemeroptera · Family: Palingeniidae
Also called: Tisza Mayfly
The Tisza mayfly is the biggest European mayfly, reaching about 12 cm from head to tail. Every year a massive emergence occurs in mid-June, when millions of adults hatch and fly low over the river for about a week.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Adult mayflies stay close to the water surface, flying low with their tail-like cerci often touching the water.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
They can grow up to roughly 12 cm long, making them the largest mayfly species in Europe.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Larvae live in mud tunnels, where they remain for up to three years before emerging as adults. These mud tunnels can be extremely dense, with about 400 tunnels per square metre.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
In mid-June, a week-long “blooming” sees millions of larvae hatch and mature into adults.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
The mass emergence typically occurs during a single week in mid-June.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
The species is named after the European Tisza River where it occurs.
Source: Wikipedia
More photos
Questions people ask
When does the Tisza mayfly appear in large numbers?
A huge emergence happens each year for about a week in mid-June, known as the Tisza blooming.
Source: Wikipedia
How big does the Tisza mayfly get?
It can reach roughly 12 cm from head to tail, the largest size among European mayflies.
Source: Wikipedia
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palingenia_longicauda
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-23.