《詩經．曹風．蜉蝣》篇以「蜉蝣」刺曹國地小而迫，君臣猶習於奢華，不知亡國無日。惜該篇未明白指出「蜉蝣」究為何種昆蟲，以致各家對「掘閱」的詮解，言人人殊、莫衷一是。本文從現代昆蟲學角度權衡諸說，認為作者創作〈蜉蝣〉所摹寫的對象，即是現代昆蟲學中的水生昆蟲蜉蝣，並非土生甲蟲。至於歷來各家對於「掘閱」的解釋，至少有六說：解釋為蜉蝣的出生為亞成蟲，或亞成蟲蛻化為成蟲；或將「掘閱」當「蜉蝣之容貌」解；或曰蜉蝣「掘地而出，蟲體悅懌。」；亦有作蜉蝣「穿穴而出」解釋；尚有一說，將「掘閱」當作聯綿詞，形容蜉蝣體貌俊美。本文以為「聯綿詞」之說比較合乎蜉蝣的形態及生態，且與詩中前兩章對蜉蝣羽翼的靜態描述一致。

An insect was used in the “Mayfly Poem” from the Book of Odes to satirize the luxurious and extravagant lifestyle of the King Zhao and his officials, even though their kingdom was on the verge of collapse. The author of this poem did not clearly identify this insect. Consequently, there have been various interpretations of the last stanza depending on how each literary critic perceived this insect. In this paper, the merits of pertinent literatures are reviewed from an entomological point of view. The conclusion is that the insect depicted in this poem is indeed the mayfly of modern entomology, and not the terrestrial beetle as has been advanced by some authors. The phrase “jueyue 掘閱” in the last stanza of this “Mayfly Poem” has been interpreted in at least six different ways: as the emergence of the mayfly; as the subimago molted into the adult mayfly; as the mayfly's facial appearance; as the action of digging out of the ground with a fresh and bright body; of digging out of a tunnel; or the beauty of the mayfly's body. Only the last interpretation, which describes the mayfly's essential beauty rather than the insect's activities or inconspicuous face, conforms to the morphology and ecology of mayflies. This interpretation is also consistent with the morphological description of the wings found in the first two stanzas of the poem.