According to AFP, mayfly larvae live underwater for three years, and then millions of these short-lived insects engage in a frantic rush to mate and reproduce before they perish in just a few hours during 'Tiszaviragzas' - the Tisza blooming season - which lasts from late spring to early summer every year. The species was once widespread across Europe, but has now disappeared from much of the continent.

Peter Kohalmi / AFP - Getty Images
Long-tailed mayflies (Palingenia longicauda) dance around each other in large groups on the surface of the Tisza river near Tiszafured, Hungary, early in the evening on June 13.