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Potsdam / Müncheberg (dpa) - They are older than the dinosaurs - one of the mayflies is now being honored as insect of the year: the Danish mayfly (Ephemera danica).

Their life cycle makes the mayflies unique, said Thomas Schmitt, director of the Senckenberg German Entomological Institute in Müncheberg and chairman of the board of trustees, at an online press conference on Friday.

The Danish mayfly is one to two centimeters long, has conspicuous black spots on its wings and also lives in Germany.

The name is a bit deceptive, by the way: While mayflies as flying insects die after around two to four days, their life cycle is on average around two years in the larval stage.

The Danish mayfly is one to two centimeters long and has conspicuous black spots on its wings.

"Fortunately, there is no acute threat to our" Insect of the year 2021 ", said the Brandenburg Environment Minister Axel Vogel (Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen) as patron of the" Insect of the Year ", which has been proclaimed since 1999, according to a previously published text.

The Danish mayfly, however, depends on ecologically intact water with sufficient oxygen content.

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Mayflies have been around for around 355 million years.

Around 140 species live in Central Europe today.

Senckenberg Institute for Nature Research