The Stream's Hidden Treasures

By -
As I pull up my waders and grab my D-net, I’m wondering what insects are lurking in the crooks and crannies of the stream in front of me. The stream is hidden in the middle of a forest and has many shrubs and trees growing around it. I anticipate that many midges (Diptera) will be found along with an occasional mayfly (Ephemeroptera) and caddisfly (Trichoptera). I slowly step down into the water and use my net as a crutch because the last thing I want to do is fall face first into the stream. The water reaches my mid-thigh, and I can feel the cold water as I begin scraping the bottom of the stream with my net. 

When I bring up the net to my face to inspect for insects, I become disappointed because I don’t see any critters. But then I take a closer look and see multiple tiny insects squirming around in the mesh. I cautiously pick them out of the net, being careful not to squash them, and set them aside in a bucket. 

The hunt for aquatic insects continues for about ten minutes, and I baffled at all that I am catching. My bucket is teeming with insects so I head towards the bank to do some further inspection. The contents of the bucket are dumped into a long, thin container resting on a table which makes the insects easier to spot. An abundance of mayflies are picked out along with multiple caddisflies still in their case and some midge larvae. Lastly, I see a couple water striders (Hemiptera) zig-zagging on the surface of the water and quickly catch them with my D-net. 



                                                         Photo taken from my iPhone

Mayflies can be contrasted from other aquatic insects such as stoneflies and caddisflies because they normally have three cerci while stoneflies normally have two cerci (Eaton et al., 2007). After about forty-five minutes of inspecting the contents of our buckets, the class moves to the next location. The second stream was located off the side of a road and wasn’t as deep as the first stream. It didn’t have as much vegetation on the left side compared to the first stream; however, it had more stones lining the bank. I instantly walked through the water to the stones in the shallow parts and flipped one over. To my excitement, a couple stoneflies (Plecoptera) were attached.


                                                            (Alamy Ltd., 2019)

I kept flipping over rocks and kept finding more and more stoneflies. I found about seven stoneflies and then moved to the middle of the stream to see if I could find different macroinvertebrates. I disturbed the sediment by twisting my feet in the rocks, and I held my net behind me to catch the insects that drifted downstream. I discovered more mayflies. I did not, however, find any caddisflies or water striders at the second stream. 

Sampling in the streams was fun because not only did I get to see what is lurking in the crevices of streams, but I also had the opportunity to see macroinvertebrates that I don’t commonly see when I am exploring nature. Mayflies, stoneflies, caddisflies, water striders, and midge larvae all play an important role in stream biodiversity and are crucial indictors of a high-quality stream. If the class would have only found one species of macroinvertebrates, we could conclude the stream we were sampling from was a low-quality stream because of the low biodiversity of insects. 

Bibliography

Alamy Ltd. (2019, May 27). Stonefly Nymph Stock Photos and Images. Retrieved May 27, 2019, from https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo/stonefly-nymph.html

Eaton, E. R., Bowers, R., & Kaufman, K. (2007). Kaufman field guide to insects of North America. New York: Houghton Mifflin.



Links

https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo/stonefly-nymph.html

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mimicry: Being Masters of Disguise

By Anonymous -
Image
By: Cassidy Herbster, Cari Marota and Malik Mason  First to explain mimicry, it is copying another insect or inanimate object to aid in avoidance of predators and/or catching prey. There are two types of mimicry: batesian and mullerian. Batesian refers to when only the insect who is mimicking benefits while mullerian is when both the model and mimicking insect benefits. Most common way is with coloring. The colors of the bad tasting, venomous, or vicious insect is copied by a different insect to avoid being eaten by a predator, though the copy cat doesn't actually have that defense, it just appears so.  They also use coloring to blend in to catch prey or avoid being prey.  The insect being mimicked is called the model. Insects will not always only mimic other insects, but creatures such as arachnids or reptiles. Mimicry might not be for the whole lifetime of the insect. For example, the larvae of an insect could mimic a predator but grow up and not use mimicry as su...
Read more

Bear Lake Bog

By Anonymous -
Image
            A picture of a wetland bog from the Northern Hemisphere Source: https://infograph.venngage.com/p/176597/bog-biome               From lakeside dunes to old-growth white pine forests, Michigan is enriched with unique ecosystems. Although many of which have been claimed by society for agricultural and suburban means, portions of conserved land have been reserved for public recreation and admiration of wilderness. Wetland bogs are microcosms that serve as host to many unique organisms. While they used to be much more prevalent in the United States, they are still an important ecosystem in the US. This blog will expound on our class’s excursion to a bog named Bear Lake Bog.             Bear Lake Bog is located about six miles south of Au Sable campus and is found between the East Lakes and Bear Lake. We visited this bog on May 22, 2018. We broug...
Read more

Honey Bees and Colony Collapse Disorder

By -
Image
            Beginning in the winter of 2006 to 2007, beekeepers began to notice a significant decline in losses of their hives, as high as 30 to 90 percent for no apparent reason ( Kaplan, 2012 ). The population of honeybees continues to decline today. The disappearance of these honey bees is now known as the colony collapse disorder (or CCD). This is concerning because honeybees play an important role in the pollination of plants, especially for agriculture but the loss of honeybees doesn’t stop there. The honey that honeybees make has significant medicinal properties. Honey provides antioxidants, relief to colds, and when applied to scrapes or wounds, it aids the healing process with its natural antibacterial and antimicrobial properties ( Shock, 2015 ). It promotes digestion. The loss of honeybees is not only a threat to biodiversity but the health of plants and people. Colony losses of managed ...
Read more