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Cross-ecosystem fluxes can crucially influence the productivity of adjacent habitats. Emerging aquatic insects represent one important pathway through which freshwater-derived organic matter can enter terrestrial food webs. Aquatic insects may be of superior food quality for terrestrial consumers because they contain high concentrations of essential polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). We quantified the export of PUFA via emerging insects from a midsize, mesotrophic lake. Insects were collected using emergence traps installed above different water depths and subjected to fatty acid analyses. Insect emergence from different depth zones and seasonal mean fatty acid concentrations in different insect groups were used to estimate PUFA fluxes. In total, 80.5 mg PUFA m^− 2 yr^− 1 were exported, of which 32.8 mg m^− 2 yr^− 1 were eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), 7.8 mg m^− 2 yr^− 1 were arachidonic acid (ARA), and 2.6 …