About Mayfly Central

Mayfly Central is a place, a program, and an information resource. It is located in the Department of Entomology at Purdue University, where it is associated with the Laboratory of Aquatic Entomology. The program is a multidimensional research and education program dedicated to the pursuit and dissemination of knowledge about mayflies, or the insect order Ephemeroptera. The resource involves information about mayflies, especially the taxonomy, ecology, behavior and life history of species in North America and Central America, and systematics of pannote mayflies, burrowing mayflies, small minnow mayflies, and flatheaded mayflies throughout the world.

Undergirding all of this is a premier research and reference collection of mayflies housed in the Purdue Entomological Research Collection (PERC), which includes over 400,000 specimens, 2000 + species, and approximately 3900 type specimens from throughout the world representing most known taxa and numerous new taxa yet to be described. The mayfly collection has grown from 250,000 specimens when Mayfly Central was first launched and is now believed to be the most comprehensive collection of mayflies in existence.