Aquatic Insects
- Safety - before heading out on the trail please see "For Your Safety".
- Everyone collecting specimens in the Park is required to obtain a collecting permit. This can be applied for online on the National Park Service Research Permit and Reporting System.
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Notes from a training class led by Ed DeWalt.
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Descriptions:
- Mayflies have a long soft body; have two or three thread-like “tails”; are very common around ponds or streams; front wings are large and triangular and hind wings are small and rounded.
- Stoneflies have four wings with many veins; wings fold or roll up over the back and extend beyond the abdomen; are poor fliers; are small to medium-sized and brown or drab colored; are usually found near water; young live in water.
- Caddisflies are usually small, dull-colored, moth-like insects with four wings that are held roof-like over their backs; wings are covered with scales; antennae are very long; young live in water where many build cases of sand grains or other materials to live in.
Instructions for Collecting:
- For capturing adult insects, ultraviolet (UV) light traps are used
since adults typically hide during the day in dense foliage along the
waterways.
- It’s much easier to have them come to you, attracted by the UV rays!
- This method requires backpacking into remote areas, at night, carrying
batteries (motorcycle batteries weighing several pounds each) along
with associated set-up gear (lights, cables) and large muslin sheet traps.
- Often, multiple trap sites are sampled each night, meaning more than one battery must be packed in.
- Hence, volunteers must be willing to hike long distances carrying their share of the heavy load!
- The reward is that there is often a huge variety of insects that come to these lights.
- Immature aquatic insects are targeting for purposes of rearing them
to the adult stage.
- Only by rearing will we get to the point where larvae can be identified.
- For any kind of collecting the most important thing is to LOOK CLOSELY!
Safety Considerations:
- Experience in hiking, off trail and at night, is to be expected.
- And, since it’s often much easier to wade up streams than struggle along the bank, good traction boots (waterproof if it’s likely to be cold – a normal situation at night along mountain streams) that also furnish ankle stability for carrying trap gear are strongly recommended.
