Mayflies (Ephemeroptera) are found in lakes, ponds, streams and rivers, and provide an important food for fish, especially those in the salmonid family. The adults are copied by fly-fishermen and given a variety of common names such as the Angler's Curse, the March Brown and the Sherry Spinner. Although there are several regional guides to mayflies such as those produced by the Freshwater Biological Association (Elliott & Humpesch, 1983, 2010) and the excellent keys for Northern Europe (Engblom, 1996) and Central Europe (Bauernfeind & Humpesch, 2001), there has been no single text on European mayflies. This discrepancy has now been remedied by the publication of this impressive textbook, and the authors must be congratulated on their excellent work. Perhaps one reason for the lack of a previous publication was the large number of species to be considered. The present textbook lists 369 species in 19 families. In marked contrast, only 51 species in 10 families have been recorded in Britain and Ireland-one advantage of living on islands at the western limits of Europe! The geographical area covered by this new book is Europe west of the Ural mountains, including the Mediterranean islands, and the Maghreb region of North Africa. A short introductory chapter provides a general outline of the book and defines some terms. The authors correctly use the term 'larva' for all the aquatic stages except the last larval instar for which the term 'nymph' is also used. As they indicate, there is often some confusion between these two terms in the literature. This is followed by a much longer

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Abstract. This study represents the first formal morphological and combined (morphological and molecular) phylogenetic analyses of the order Ephemeroptera. Taxonomic sampling comprised 112 species in 107 genera, including 42 recognized families (all major lineages of Ephemeroptera). Morphological data consisted of 101 morphological characters. Molecular data were acquired from DNA sequences of the 12S, 16S, 18S, 28S and H3 genes. The Asian genus Siphluriscus (Siphluriscidae) was supported as sister to all other mayflies. The lineages Carapacea, Furcatergalia, Fossoriae, Pannota, Caenoidea and Ephemerelloidea were supported as monophyletic, as were many of the families. However, some recognized families (for example, Ameletopsidae and Coloburiscidae) and major lineages (such as Setisura, Pisciforma and Ephemeroidea among others) were not supported as monophyletic, mainly due to convergences within nymphal characters. Clade robustness was evaluated by multiple methods and approaches.

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