Oh, the critters we overlook.

If you have flowering artichokes, expect to see honey bees, bumble bees, carpenter bees, leafcutter bees and syrphid flies foraging on them. And a few spiders waiting for dinner.

Don't expect to see a mayfly.

The mayfly habitat is in or around water.  Fly fishers use artificial lures that look like mayflies and other aquatic insects.

This tiny mayfly (below) was perched on a flowering artichoke, about 15 feet from our fish pond. 

Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology at UC Davis, says it's from the family, Baetidae.

Worldwide, the Baetid family has about 900 described species. The Baetids are unique in that they're among the smallest of the mayflies. In general, adult mayflies have a short lifespan,  often living just a day.  They're in the order Ephemeroptera (ephemeros is Greek for short-lived, and pteron means wing).

Michael Parrella, professor and chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology, teaches "Entomology for the Fly-Fisher" every spring quarter.  The course focus: "insect life in the aquatic ecosystem; methods and mechanics of fly fishing; what you need to know to match the hatch; and enhancing the fly-fishing experience for the novice and experienced angler."

Parrella, an avid fly fisherman,  taught entomology and fly-fishing classes while on a six-month sabbatical last year in Chile. 

Chances are he never encountered a mayfly perched on a flowering artichoke!