Insect Order Ephemeroptera (Mayflies)

Cerci: The left and right "tails" of an insect are known as the cerci or caudal cerci. The middle tail of a three-tailed insect is not.

Denticles: Small tooth-like projects, often appearing like serrations on the tarsal claws of certain mayfly nymphs.

Distal: Far from the point of attachment or origin; near the tip.

Dun: Mayflies have two adult stages. They first emerge from the water as duns (scientifically known as the subimago stage). They then molt into the spinner (imago) stage, in which they mate and die. Sometimes the word "dun" is confusingly used to refer to a brownish gray color in fly tying materials.

Femur: The main segment of an insect's leg close to the body, in between the tibia and the trochanter.

Nymphs: The juvenile, underwater stages of mayflies, stoneflies, dragonflies, and damselflies and other aquatic insects whose juvenile stages are covered by hard exoskeletons. The word can also refer to the fishing flies which imitate these creatures, in which case it is used as a blanket term for flies imitating any underwater stage of an invertebrate (except for crayfish and leeches).

Palp: A long, thin, often segmented appendage which can protrude from certain insect mouth parts such as the maxillae. Also known as the < />palpus.

Penes: The paired genital structures of most male insects, which vary widely in form and are one of the main characteristics used for species identification.

Pronotum: The top of the insect prothorax.

Setae: Little hairs on insects.

Tarsal claws: The claws at the tip of the tarsus, on an insect's "foot."

Terga: the dorsal part of an abdominal segment or segments (terga). Also used to describe the entire abdominal dorsum or the thoracic dorsal segments of Odonata.

Wing pads: A protrusion from the thorax of an insect nymph which holds the developing wings. Black wing pads usually indicate that the nymph is nearly ready to emerge into an adult.