Mayfly Bike Rack

A unique bike rack that pays homage to one of the river park's most numerous residents: the mayfly! This bike rack was designed by Bella Gentile, a student in the Columbia Borough SD, and created by artist John Morrow. Columbia Creative Factory sponsored the design contest and displayed 150 designs from area schoolchildren.

Columbia River Park marks the beginning of the Northwest Lancaster County River Trail, a hugely popular trail for cyclists in the area. Therefore, no ordinary bike rack would do for the river park!

Columbia Borough School District 3rd grade student Bella Gentile designed this unique mayfly bike rack in 2017, stating that she "...always wanted something original in this world made by me." Community members voted on 150 different designs, and John Morrow created Bella's design when she won.

Mayflies can be found at Columbia River Park in June in huge numbers. They hatch en masse in the river, breed, and then die in hours. During that brief period, the mayflies can be a bit of a nuisance. However, mayflies are an indicator of good water quality, and they are a great food source for birds, bats, spiders, and fish. In fact, many fishermen and women use bait that resemble mayflies.

Learning More about Mayflies:

Mayflies are aquatic insects. The life cycle of mayflies consists of four stages: egg, nymph, subimago, and imago. Depending on the species, a female may produce fewer than 50 or more than 10,000 eggs. Typically, they are dropped on top of the water to develop into a nymph, which they live as for one year. They begin hatching at dusk, with the nymphs quickly rising to the surface of the water to emerge as a subimago and then take flight. The process from subimago to imago take about 24 hours in this process the mayflies develop their reproductive organs. Upon full maturity the mayflies swarm in a mating dance. Female mayflies usually live less than five minutes, while males can live a whopping two days.

Mayflies are very sensitive to pollution, and as such are usually only found at high quality, minimally polluted sites. Mayfly eggs are extremely sensitive to pollution. Even modest levels of water pollution can kill up to 80 percent of their eggs. The return of the mayflies represents our renewed commitment to protecting the river and surrounding lands. Mayflies tend to swarm light sources, like the lights on the bridge and in parking lots throughout the Susquehanna River region. Many people gather to witness the swarms that occur during hatching season. In some regions, the number of insects is so expansive that they show up on the local weather radar. For about six weeks in late-June through August, Veterans Memorial Bridge lights are turned off to decrease the number of mayflies on the bridge.

National Wildlife Federation. Accessed September 2nd 2021. https://www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Invertebrates/Mayflies.