Presenter: Taylor Murphy
Authors: Taylor Murphy
Faculty Advisor: Heath Ogden
Institution: Utah Valley University
Ephemeroptera are "a small but diverse order of amphinotic insects associated with liquid freshwater worldwide" (Jacobus et at., 2019) that include at least "3083 species, 376 genera, and 37 described families" (Ogden, Whiting, 2005). With more than 600 species and 36 genera, the Heptageniidae family of mayflies is primarily found throughout the Holarctic, Oriental, and Afrotropical biogeographic realms with some presence in Central and South America; however, their abundance in these realms is largely dependent upon the season in which they're found (Wolda, Flowers, 1985). Mainly, these flat-headed mayflies dwell in streams and consume detrius and diatoms. Historically, the relationship of Heptageniidae relative to other mayfly families hasn't been well understood (Ogden et al. 2009, Yanai et al. 2017). Furthermore, the placement of the genera Arthroplea and and Pseudiron have been inconclusive. Therefore, we will test the current and leading hypothesis that Arthropleadie and Pseudironidae are derived Heptageniid's instead of classified as their own monogeneric families. In this process, we will investigate the monophyly of select genera as well.