Life cycle, growth, mortality and production of Ephemerella major Klapalek (Ephemeroptera) in a trout stream in Belgium

SUMMARY. 1. The life cycle of Ephemerella major Klapalek in a chalk trout stream in Belgium took 1 year. Emergence was highly synchronized with a flight period from mid‐May to mid‐June. Tiny nymphs occurred from June to late August. 2. The mean instantaneous growth rate was high in autumn (3.6% wet wt day−1), very low from November to February (0.8% wet wt day−1) and high until emergence (2.3% wet wt day−1); short day length seemed to be the major factor reducing growth rate during winter. 3. Mortality was close to zero during winter and 1.4—1.7% day−1during other seasons. Total mortality from egg to adult was 99.6%. 4. The annual production was about 9g wet wt m−2 year−1 and the annual P/B̄ ratio was 7.5. There was good agreement between the production values estimated by four methods. Production rate was highest in May (13 mg wet wt m−2 day−1) and zero in February.