Baetidae

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title: "Baetidae" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["mayflies", "insect-families", "baetidae"] description: "Family of mayflies" topic_path: "general/mayflies" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baetidae" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Family of mayflies ::

| oldest_fossil = Cenomanian | image = Cloeon dipterum - side (aka).jpg | image_caption = Cloeon dipterum | taxon = Baetidae | authority = Leach 1815 | subdivision_ranks = | subdivision =

Baetidae is a family of mayflies with about 1000 described species in 110 genera distributed worldwide. These are among the smallest of mayflies, adults rarely exceeding 10 mm in length excluding the two long slender tails and sometimes much smaller, and members of the family are often referred to as small mayflies or small minnow mayflies. Most species have long oval forewings with very few cross veins (see Comstock-Needham system) but the hindwings are usually very small or even absent. The males often have very large eyes, shaped like turrets above the head (this is known as "turbinate condition").

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/Mayfly_ecdysis.jpg" caption="exuvium"] ::

Baetids breed in a wide range of waters from lakes and streams to ditches and even water butts. The nymphs are strong swimmers and feed mainly on algae.

Taxonomy

The majority of living genera (approximately 95) are placed in the subfamily Baetinae , with the subfamily Palaeocloeoninae Kluge, 1997 consisting of the single genus †Palaeocloeon from the Santonian aged Taimyr amber. The oldest members of the family date to the Late Cretaceous, with Myanmarella and Vetuformosa known from the Cenomanian aged Burmese amber. The genus Petracloeon Sroka & Gattolliat, 2025 is known from the Campanian-aged Tar Heel Formation of North Carolina, USA.

Selected genera in subfamily Baetinae

Main article: List of Baetidae genera

• Afroptilum
• Alainites
• Americabaetis Kluge, 1992
• Baetis Leach, 1815 (type genus)
• Baetopus Keffermüller, 1960
• Barbaetis Waltz and McCafferty, 1985
• Callibaetis Eaton, 1881
• Camelobaetidius Demoulin, 1966
• Centroptilum Eaton, 1869
• Cloeodes Traver, 1938
• Labiobaetis
• Nigrobaetis
• Procloeon
• Pseudocentroptiloides
• Pseudocloeon

Unplaced genera

Source:

1. Acentrella
2. Acerobiella
3. Baetodes
4. Cloeon
5. Cymbalcloeon
6. Macuxi
7. Megabranchiella
8. Paracloedes - monotypic P. leptobranchus
9. Procerobaetis
10. Waynokiops

References

• Chinery, Michael Collins Guide to the Insects of Britain and Western Europe 1986 (Reprinted 1991)
• McGavin, George C. Insects and Spiders 2004
• Fauna Europaea
• Nomina Insecta Nearctica

References

1. [https://www.biolib.cz/en/taxon/id16913/ BioLib.cz]: family Baetidae Leach, 1815 (retrieved 31 March 2024)
2. (2025-04-09). "The first mayfly (Ephemeroptera, Baetidae) from Late Cretaceous amber of North Carolina, USA". Fossil Record.

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