Michigan

When will the mayflies arrive?

Published

2 years ago

March 11, 2024

Temperature, wind and other environmental factors control the timing and number of mayflies that reach the shores of Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair.

In early summer along the western shores of Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair many people wonder, when will the mayflies (also known as fish flies) arrive and how many will there be this year?

First, a few key facts about mayflies. Mayflies are aquatic insects that live most of their lives in the water. Mayflies overwinter in sediments at the bottom of lakes and streams. Pollution and lack of oxygen in bottom sediments killed off Lake Erie’s mayflies in the early 1950s, and they remained rare for forty years. Mayfly populations began to rebound in the early 1990s and reached their density management goal 1997, which means there are enough to support other species.

Mayflies emergence in great numbers is part of their defense mechanism so that not all of them will be eaten and some can reproduce. Photo: Todd Marsee, Michigan Sea Grant.

Mayflies are an important food for birds and fish such as yellow perch. The presence of mayflies is considered an indicator of good water quality. Mayflies emerge from the water so that they can mate and lay eggs on the water surface. The eggs will later fall into the bottom sediments. Find out more online about the mayfly lifecycle and how you can reduce the number appearing in your backyard.

What controls the timing of mayfly emergence?

The timing of mayfly emergence from sediments is based on the water temperature. Mayflies emerge after the water temperature at depth reaches 20 degrees Celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit). In the western Lake Erie basin and Lake St. Clair, water is shallow enough that the water temperature at the surface is only a few degrees different from the temperature at depth.

How do I know what the water temperature is in Lake Erie or Lake St. Clair?

You can monitor the surface water temperature via buoys. A few days after buoys indicate a temperature of 20 degrees Celsius, the sediments will also warm to that temperature and mayflies will start to emerge. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has an experimental forecast product for bottom water depths that is frequently updated. You can also view current temperatures on the Seagull platform, part of the Great Lakes Observing System. This way you can tell in real-time when mayflies will begin to emerge.

If mayflies only live outside of water for two days, why does the mayfly “season” continue for several months (typically June through August)?

Scientists do not understand why mayflies persist so long. Mayflies emerge in different cohorts. One cohort has gone through several growth stages and is almost ready to emerge in late summer or fall but is prevented by the declining temperatures. These are the first cohorts to emerge the following summer. Individuals in the second cohort are smaller in the fall and are not ready to emerge until later in the following summer. There are also two similar but separate species of mayflies in Lake Erie and they may develop at slightly different rates.

Can you predict how many mayflies will emerge this year?

It is hard to predict how many mayflies will emerge because there are a number of environmental factors that control the number of mayflies. These factors include the number of mayflies that survive the winter as well as the oxygen levels at depth in Lake Erie. A harsh winter may mean fewer mayflies survive. Low oxygen conditions at depth can also suffocate the mayfly larvae in the sediments.

How many mayflies will reach my backyard?

Not all mayflies that emerge will reach land. Mayflies may land on islands instead. Wind speed and direction impacts whether mayflies from the Canadian side of Lake Erie end up on land in the United States or vice versa. Mayfly swarms are expected within a few days of water temperatures reaching 20 degrees Celsius and may continue up to 10 days (Corkum et al., 2006). In many cases, swarms are large enough to appear on weather radar at this time.

When you see mayflies, remember they are a sign of healthy local water bodies and that the mayflies are providing food for birds and fish you like to watch or catch!

Michigan Sea Grant helps to foster economic growth and protect Michigan’s coastal, Great Lakes resources through education, research and outreach. A collaborative effort of the University of Michigan and Michigan State University and its MSU Extension, Michigan Sea Grant is part of the NOAA-National Sea Grant network of 34 university-based programs.

Citation: Corkum, L.D., Ciborowski, J. J. H., and Dolan, D. M. 2006. Timing of Hexagenia (Ephemeridae: Ephemeroptera) mayfly swarms: Canadian Journal of Zoology v. 84 n. 11, pg. 1616-1622.

This article was prepared by Michigan Sea Grant under award NA22OAR4170084 from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce through the Regents of the University of Michigan. The statement, findings, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Department of Commerce, or the Regents of the University of Michigan.

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Michigan

Michigan football signs former No. 1-ranked running back

Published

3 hours ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

Michigan football signs former No. 1-ranked running back

Michigan football moved quickly to help fill its running back room on Thursday, adding the No. 1-ranked rusher in the 2024 recruiting class to the roster.

Taylor Tatum, who spent the last two seasons at Oklahoma, signed with the Wolverines for the 2026 season, The Ann Arbor News/MLive confirmed.

Tatum, listed at 5-foot-10 and 212 pounds, has three seasons of college eligibility remaining.

He appeared in 12 games for the Sooners, most of it during his true-freshman season in 2024. That first season, Tatum rushed for 278 yards and three touchdowns, highlighted by a five-carry, 69-yard game in Oklahoma’s season opener against Temple.

Tatum was hampered by injuries in 2025, appearing in just one game against South Carolina, where he rushed once for negative-1 yard.

A former four-star recruit, Tatum was considered the nation’s No. 1 running back in 2024 out of Longview High School in Texas, where he set the school record for career rushing touchdowns (53). He picked Oklahoma over Ohio State, Alabama, Oregon, USC, among others.

Tatum was also a member of the Oklahoma baseball team, though he didn’t appear in a game in 2025.

The signing comes just a day after Michigan’s leading rusher in 2025, Jordan Marshall, announced his return to the Wolverines. Since the transfer portal opened last Friday, reserve running backs Bryson Kuzdzal and Jasper Parker have entered. Parker has since signed to play at Arkansas next season.

Meanwhile, Michigan awaits a decision from its other star back, Justice Haynes, who’s left the door open to a return to college. A pair of freshmen backs, Savion Hiter and Jonathan Brown, also joined the team this week.

Tony Alford, Michigan’s running backs coach, was one of three assistants retained by new head coach Kyle Whittingham.

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Michigan

Kyle Whittingham knows what Michigan football needs

Published

15 hours ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

Kyle Whittingham knows what Michigan football needs

Michigan football is primed to win now, new coach Kyle Whittingham said this week on “The Dan Patrick Show.”

The Wolverines have made far too many headlines off the field, which is why Whittingham told Patrick the organization needs to simply get back to focusing on the reason they’re all together as a team − football.

“The place doesn’t need a rebuild, it needs a reboot of trust and getting rid of the drama and just get back to playing Michigan football without all the distractions,” Whittingham said. “It didn’t come from the players. The players were not involved. It was not some player issue – it was just the peripheral.

“Guys here have a great attitude, I met with everyone of them last week at the bowl site. Quality young men, care about academics, excited to be at Michigan, but they’ve dealt with a lot over the last few years.”

Whittingham, 66, takes over as the 22nd head coach in program history after a pair of scandals rocked the previous two men who held his job.

Jim Harbaugh led the Wolverines from 2015-23 − and left on top by winning a national championship − but also was found to have a lack of institutional control in his program by NCAA investigators after two separate NCAA violations occurred under his watch: impermissible recruiting and illegal sign-stealing.

More recently, Sherrone Moore was fired in scandal after he was found to have had a relationship with a subordinate and was subsequently arrested after he allegedly went to her house and threatened his own life − he was jailed for two nights and charged with felony home invasion, misdemeanor stalking and misdemeanor breaking and entering.

Patrick asked if there was any selling point Whittingham needed to hear specifically from Michigan. Whittingham said when he stepped away from Utah in mid-December there were only a handful of program’s he would have even entertained. He called Michigan “a special place.”

“Needed to hear that Michigan was what I thought it was,” he said. “Hey’re committed to winning here, we do have some challenges with entrance requirements, there is a little bit of a hurdle there, but talk about athletes, resources, tradition − it’s all here at Michigan.”

Whittingham also quipped about the irony of previously being a team that wore red (Utah) whose primary rival wore blue (BYU) to flipping that. It’s also not lost on him that his mentor, Urban Meyer, went 7-0 against Michigan in his tenure in Columbus − Whittingham joked at his opening press conference that Meyer’s name alone might be considered a “four-letter word” in Ann Arbor.

“Blue was our rival at Utah for years,” he said. “Now I’ve got to get used to saying, ‘Go Blue.’”

Whittingham is in the throes of one of the busiest times on the college football calendar. The transfer portal opened for a 15-day window Jan. 2-16, setting off a scramble to both retain players, scout the database and find appropriate fits for the team.

Whittingham has only known his roster and coaches for approximately 10 days – he said while down in Florida he was going to “lock himself” in a room at Schembechler Hall in Ann Arbor to watch film on the players on his roster. He has been able to keep Bryce Underwood, Andrew Marsh, Andrew Babalola, Blake Frazier, Evan Link, Jake Guarnera and Zeke Berry − the last two of whom had put their names in the transfer portal before indicating their return to U-M for 2026.

With money flowing, back-channeling frequent and poaching at an all-time high, Whittingham doesn’t see college football’s current model as something that will last as currently constructed for more than a handful of years.

“It is not sustainable, there’s no question about that,” Whittingham said. “Something’s gotta give. Within a 2- to 4-, 5-year window, you’re going to see a major overhaul of Division I football. I think it’s going to become more of a minor league NFL model. I think you’re gonna see a salary cap, collective bargaining, players as employees.

“I think all that’s coming because we cannot maintain this pace.”

Tony Garcia is the Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.

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Michigan Lottery contributions over $1B to K-12 schools for 7th year in a row, state says

Published

1 day ago

January 7, 2026

Press Room

Michigan Lottery contributions over B to K-12 schools for 7th year in a row, state says

LANSING, MI – The Michigan Lottery’s annual contribution to K-12 education reached more than $1 billion for the seventh time in a row in 2025, according to the state.

The amount at $1.16 billion makes up roughly 5-6% of the state’s School Aid Fund, which has exceeded $20 billion in recent years.

It peaked in 2021 at $1.4 billion, according to the state budget office, marking a 78.4% increase in six years at the time. The reported portion for 2025 marks a slight decrease when compared to the previous five years.

In a release on Wednesday, Jan. 7, the state reported the total Lottery contribution had reached more than $30 billion since it began in 1972 and $8.7 billion within a seven-year span.

“In (2025), Lottery retailers earned more than $300 million in commissions for the sixth straight year,” Acting Lottery Commissioner Joe Froehlich said in a statement. “The support the Lottery provides to public education and to businesses throughout the state is critical and far-reaching.”

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s office utilized Wednesday’s announcement to recap the current state investment in K-12 schools based on the budget deal lawmakers green-lit in October three months after the current fiscal year was already underway.

That includes a 4.6% hike to $10,050 per student, $201.6 million to maintain a free universal meals program that Whitmer said saves “parents almost $1,000 a year per kid,” and a series of investments geared toward boosting literacy skills.

“This year’s lottery contributions will help build on that progress and make a difference for students, educators and schools across Michigan,” the governor said in a statement.

Other budget highlights included hundreds of millions in grants to reduce class sizes and school infrastructure, as well as for career-technical education and English-language learners.

Additionally, there was another $258.7 million boost to $1.3 billion for at-risk student supports and $321 million to support mental health and school safety initiatives ― the latter including a waiver requirement that spurred litigation from schools against the state in late 2025.

According to the Michigan Lottery, participating retailers earned more than $330 million in commissions for the 2025 fiscal year. Since 2019, when the Lottery’s streak of billion-dollar contributions to the School Aid Fund began, the state reported more than $2.3 billion in commissions.

Lottery products are sold at more than 10,000 locations across the state, and over 700 retailers sold $1 million or more last year in Lottery games.

Michigan residents took home more than $2.8 billion in prizes in 2025 and over $58 billion since the Lottery began.

According to the state, roughly 25 cents went to the School Aid Fund from every dollar spent on a Michigan Lottery Ticket, while 63 cents went to players as prizes, 9 cents to vendor commissions and 3 cents to the Lottery’s operations.

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