Ephoron virgo (Olivier, 1791) anticipates emergence in a warming world: some evidence from non-specialist observations and a case study from Northwest Italy

Climate change, with the disruption of hydrological and thermal regimes, is threatening freshwater entomological biodiversity in different ways. While extinction or distribution range change of some species can be noted relatively easily, the effects on life cycle usually require considerable data. In this short communication, we show that Ephoron virgo (Olivier, 1791), a univoltine mayfly, anticipated the date of emergence in the Tanaro River (Northwest Italy) over the last 17 years and how this is closely related to the increase in local temperatures. Since this species is known for its impressive and synchronised hatchings, we relied on official reports from the municipality of Alba, which allowed us to analyse a greater dataset, demonstrating how unconventional documents combined with direct observation or press articles can also be useful in scientific studies.