''Pentagenia'', similar to Hexagenia, is a genus of

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three ...

in the family

Ephemeridae Ephemeridae is a family of mayflies with about 150 described species found throughout the world except Australia and Oceania. These are generally quite large mayflies (up to 35 mm) with either two or three very long tails. Many species have ...

, commonly referred to as burrowing mayflies.

General information

Unlike Hexagenia, which inhabit mostly lightly compacted silt substrates, most species of Pentagenia inhabit compacted clay substrates. They also prefer faster flowing streams than Hexagenia. This difference in habitat creates several morphological differences between the two genera. The mandibular tusks are used to excavate an open burrow in the substrate where the mayfly resides, therefore the size and strength of the head differs between the two genera in correlation to the different substrates in which they burrow. However, the best delineating feature between the two is that Pentagenia have a pointed frontal process with a minor cleft at the point.Keltner, J. and W. P. McCafferty. (1986). Functional morphology of burrowing in the mayflies Hexagenia limbata and Pentagenia vittigera. ''Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society'' 87 :139-162.

Species

These two species belong to the genus ''Pentagenia'': * †'' Pentagenia robusta'' McDunnough, 1926^{i c g} * '' Pentagenia vittigera'' (Walsh, 1862)^{i c g b} Data sources: i = ITIS, c = Catalogue of Life, g = GBIF, b = Bugguide.net

References

Mayfly genera Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{mayfly-stub