Who Doesn't Know the Taste of Food? 0 9

Mayflies (Ephemeroptera) are deprived of the ability to enjoy food, and there are more than three thousand species of them. In their short lives, which usually last only one day, there is no time for gluttony. Although some of these insects can be considered 'long-lived' and live for several days, while others exist for only a few hours or minutes, neither group tastes a drop of nectar in their entire lives.

These creatures do not even have mouths, although, surprisingly, nature has endowed them with a stomach and intestines that remain filled with air. The life of mayflies resembles a magical ball — they gather in the air by the hundreds, forming a living snowstorm, and swirl around like graceful dancers resembling snowflakes.

The romantic whirlwind of these almost bodiless beings is a prelude to death, and it is needed only for reproduction. After mayflies experience love, they are doomed to perish. The males die first, while the females live a little longer to lay their eggs. Each female produces about 10,000 eggs, most of which do not survive, and only a few hundred larvae will become mayflies after 2–3 years. And this cycle will repeat again.