Boat patrol for the safeguard of the Tisza mayflies

  Nimfea Association, Hortobágy National Park and the Water Police of the Tisza has conducted concerted actions to prevent the illegal collection of the protected mayfly of the Tisza. The Tisza River is in „full blossom” in June – as the swarming of this fragile is called, because the huge masses of buzzing mayflies make the river look like a flowery meadow.
   This unique phenomenon is caused by Palingenia longicauda, the largest mayfly in Europe, which – after spending three years in larvae form in the mud - hatches in masses in each June on certain sections of the Tisza and mates during its short, three-hour long life.
During the days of swarming not only nature-lovers come to see and admire the beauty of the mayflies, but also collectors of the larvae come to the banks of the Tisza, to dig out the larvae from the mud. The larvae are collected to become baits at the end of fishing-rods, although the mayfly is protected, so its specimens can not be collected, neither alive nor dead.
   Stopping the illegal collection of the larvae is especially important as this mayfly has become extinct in several countries of Europe, and the Hungarian population is also endangered by the pollution of the Tisza.