What’s that floating in Lake Simcoe? LSRCA explains

A jar containing exuviae skin, on Lake Simcoe. (LSRCA)

If you’ve been on the water at Lake Simcoe recently, you may have seen these strange, transparent floating ‘things’ on the surface of the water that look like bugs, but they’re not moving.

According to Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority (LSCRA), what you’re looking at is most likely the skin the bugs have shed and left behind.

That may sound unappealing to some, but the LSCRA maintains it’s a good thing.

The floating bits of shed skin you noticed most likely belong to exuviae, otherwise known as the larval form of mayflies or shadflies.

The larvae are aquatic, taking flight and leaving their skin behind once they mature into adults.

In a post on social media, LSCRA says “Mayfly larvae only thrive in clean, oxygen-rich water.”

“Their presence is one of nature’s best indicators of a healthy aquatic ecosystem,” the conservation authority adds.