When the adults are ready to emerge, the mayfly nymphs (larvae) swim to the surface of the water during the night. Their skin splits and winged subimagos struggle free, usually in less than a minute, and fly to nearby trees to rest. They are a dull gray color and have short, coarse legs, bristly cerci and cloudy, grayish wings. Some eight to eighteen hours later, these subimagos moult into mature adults (imagos). These are altogether more delicate in appearance than the subimagos; the wings are transparent, the legs are longer and more slender, the cerci lack bristles, the eyes are larger and the body is patterned in brown and cream. The females are much larger than the males.