Ephemeral Wetland Variety:

A. Fill date and hydroperiod1. Short cycle Spring 3-4 months2. Long cycle Spring 5-8 months3. Short cycle Fall 7-9 months4. Long cycle Fall 9-11 months5. Semi-permanent longer

Does it go completely dry or have moist sediments in “dry period”?

Uri.edu

Greatswamp.org

Canopy Cover –More open, more vegetation

Closed

Open

Intermediate

ux.brookdalecc.edu

1. The longer the fill period (shorter dry) and more sunlight, the more likely there will be AQUATIC vegetation.

2. The shorter the fill period (longer dry) and the more sunlight,the more likely you will see TERRESTRIAL vegetation.

Macroinvertebrates must adapt to the hydroperiod and other conditions of the wetland

• Long dry periodsSerious aestivation/overwintering phases

eggs that MUST dry – fairy shrimpeggs that stay moist in vegetation - damselflies

Migration by adults – beetles and bugs• Short dry periods or wet sediments

Burrow in mud and hang on –dragonflies and fingernail clams

• Complex Life Cycles of Insects Have a terrestrial stage during the dry period - caddisflies

www.kidfish.bc.ca

A Word about Taxonomy

• Levels of descriptive specificityKingdomgeneral

Phylum

Class

Order

Family

Genus

Speciesspecific

• The common house mosquitoAnimalia

Arthropoda

Insecta

Diptera

Culicidae

Culex

pipiensCulex pipiens or Culex pipiens

Phylum Mollusca – bivalves (clams and mussels) and snails

EP indicator SpeciesSphaeridae – Fingernail Clams, Pill Clams, Pea Clams

Less than 1 inch length, most less than ½ inch length. Live 1-2 yearsSelf fertilize, young on own gills, burrow in mud to aestivate/overwinterFilter feed on algae, small animals, tiny bits. Eaten by dabbling ducks, salamander larvae.

Drawings from Taxonomic Keys by Eddy and Hodson

Characteristics: Most have a shell that they secrete, have a muscular “foot”for movement

Snails – identifying characteristics1. Does it have a peak?

Planispiral – no peak Conispiral - peak

2. Which side of the shell has the opening?

Left handed - Sinestral Right handed - Dextral

Drawings from Taxonomic Keys by Eddy and Hodson

Snail FamiliesLymnaeidae – Pond Snails

Drawings from Taxonomic Keys by Eddy and Hodson

Physidae – Pouch snails

Planorbidae – Wheel Snails

Lymnaeidae (conispiral, dextral)Air breathers, acute peak, right handedcoil and opening. Opening not covered by a horny plug, or operculum.5-50 mm high.

Planorbidae (planispiral, both)Air breather, no operculum, rightor left coil and opening. 3-30 mm in diameter.

Physidae (conispiral, sinestral)Air breather, no operculum, left handedCoil and opening. 5-20 mm high.

Worms

Horsehair or Gordian Worms[Phylum Nematomorpha]

Very long and thinNo segments

Parasitic on many common invertebrates – when almost mature

drive host to water and emerge, killing host

rydberg.biology.colostate.edu

Microscopic ‘Bristleworms”Class Oligochaete

Segmented Worms - Phylum Annelida

bristles

segments

Very abundant in sediments, sometimescalled sewer worms because abundantdownstream from treatment plant discharge

forum.mikroscopia.comWlm van Egmond

Drawing from Taxonomic Keys by Eddy and Hodson

Macroscopic Bristlewormsor Oligochaetes

inhs.uiuc.edusfu.ca

Free living, feed in sediments,food for salamander larvae, dragonfly larvae, big beetles andbugs

Live in tubes attached tobottom. Frequently getpulled out in sampling. Feed near bottom, eaten by same asfree living.

Leeches - Class Hirudinea

segmentsmouthparts eyes

IDcharacters

Fluid feeders and predators – mostlyof insects and molluscs. Fairly small.

Big ones come in on Turtles.

Drawings from Taxonomic Keys by Eddy and Hodson

Phylum ArthropodaThe most numerous phylum on the planet

Aquatic sowbug or isopod

Jointedappendages

Hardexternalskeleton

The Arthropods you will see fall into three general categories:

Crustaceans – aquatic, many with2 pair of antennae, most appendageswith two main branches at the end.

Insects – 3 pair legs, 2 pair wings, 1 pair antennae. Most appendagesunforked at the end.Arachnoids – 4 pair of legs, 2 body parts

(head and thorax fused). Drawing from Aquatic Entomology by McCafferty

MicrocrustaceansOrder Cladocera –

Water Fleas

Very small, butcan be seen in water column.Jerky swimming.May be in swarms.

1. Class Branchipoda

Drawings from Taxonomic Keys by Eddy and Hodson

Overwintering egg

Head out of

carapace

male

female

Brood pouch

From Field Book of Ponds and Streams by Ann Haven Morgan

2. Order AnostracaFairy Shrimp

EP Indicator Species

Easily visibleswimming smoothlyupside down,0.5-1 inch

3. Orders Laevicaudata and Spinicaudata - Clam Shrimp

Most microscopic – and look like seed shrimp (ostracods).

Not terribly well known – swim and feed along sediments

Drawings from Taxonomic Keys by Eddy and Hodson

Head inside carapace

Brood SackMale claspers

Copepods

Swimmingantennae

Most actually microscopicAlso a jerky swimmer in water column

Class Maxillopoda 1. Subclass Copepoda

Ostracods or seed shrimp

Most microscopic

Swim and feed right at surfaceof the sediments

Subclass Ostracoda

Drawings from Taxonomic Keys by Eddy and Hodson

Head inside

Macrocrustaceans Class Malacostraca

1. Order IsopodaAquatic sowbugs or Isopods

Strongly flattened top to bottom7 pair of walking legs, first with clawRear segments fused into plate 5-20 mm

Shred decaying plant material, eaten byvertebrates, spiders, beetles

Drawing from Field Book of Ponds and Streams by Ann Haven Morgan

nwnature.net

2. Order AmphipodaAmphipods or scuds

Strongly flattened from side to side7 pair walking legs, first 2 with claws2 pairs of antennae ~ same size5 – 20 mm

Another shredder of decaying plant materialEaten by vertebrates, spiders, beetles

Drawing from Field Book of Ponds and Streams by Ann Haven M

epa.gov

eggs

carapace3. Order DecapodaCrayfish, lobsters, crabs

“true” shrimps

Fused “carapace” behind head5 pair walking legs, first with BIG clawSizable “flipper” at end10-120 mm

Herbivores, shredders or carnivoresEaten by vertebrates (raccoons, humans)

Drawing from Field Book of Ponds and Streams by Ann Haven M

biol.andrews.edu

Crayfish

Class Insecta – Insects

Come in 2 types with different life cycles:

Those with 3 stages – egg, larva, adultLarva is sometimes called nymph or naiadMayflies, Odonates, bugs

Those with a 4-stage life cycleEgg, larva, PUPA, and adultBeetles, caddisflies, flies

Adult emergesfrom larva

ru.ac.za/academic

Drawing from Field Book of Ponds and Streams by Ann Haven M

Mayflies – Order Ephemeroptera

3 tail filaments

gills

wingbuds Nymphs aquatic, most of life cycleAdults terrestrial, very short-lived

Tail filamentsLarge wings heldover back

Drawings from Aquatic Entomology by McCafferty

Ephemeral pond nymphs small (<1/2 in.)and fast swimmers

Order Odonata –Dragons and Damsels

Differences between:

AdultsDragons stockier, wings held flatDamsels thin, wings folded over

back

Larvae (Naiads)Dragons stockier, sprawl on

pond bottom, breathethrough anus

Damsels thin, perch on plantsor other items in water,breathe through 3 gills atend of body

Voracious Predators

Drawing from Field Book of Ponds and Streams by Ann Haven Morgan

Both damsels and dragonshave hydraulic mouthparts

Most are sit-and-waitpredators

True Bugs –Order Hemiptera

2 key characteristics:

Mouth in form of a feedingtube or beak

Front wings ½ membranous½ leathery

Drawing from Aquatic Entomology by McCafferty

ent.ohiou.edu

1. Giant Water Bugs – Family Belostomatidae

cohe.nmsu.edu

Serious Predator!

Irritability

2. On water surface – water striders

dpughphoto.com

Large striders - Gerridae

en.wikipedia.org

Small striders - Veliidae

popgen.unimass.nlpopgen.unimass.nl

3. Water Scorpions – Family Nepidae

4. Backswimmers –Notonectidae

5. Water Boatmen –Corixidae

Difference?mouthparts

Pygmy Backswimmer - Pleidaebugguide.net

Drawings from Aquatic Entomology by McCafferty

Beetles – Order Coleoptera

Predaceous Diving BeetleDiving Tiger

Beetles have a four stage life cycle. Pupa isn’tactive.

Forewings are hardened and called elytra.Hind wings are membranous and folded when

beetle isn’t flying.

Both adults and larvaecan be aquatic.

Life cycleusually requirestime in a permanentpond.

Predaceous Diving Beetles – Family Dytiscidae Drawings from An Introduction to the Aquatic Insects of North America ed. By Merritt and Cummins

“Breathing pipes” in the rear,so surfaces tail first

Larvae inject toxin through sickle-shapedmouthparts, then enzymes to digest. Suckup digested juice. More like a bug than abeetle. Great swimmers.

antenna

mouthparts

magickcanoe.com

Adults catch prey with forelegs,then chew apart. Eat almostanything including salamanders.May also scavenge carcasses.

Water Scavenger Beetles-Family Hydrophilidae Larvae

Adults

Larvae great predators – chewing theirprey. Even snails, shell and all!

Adults are also predators and tendto consume their prey whole. Can also be found grazing on deadcarcasses.

Drawings from Aquatic Entomology by McCafferty

Which is Which?

Common large species:Same size, same red-orange stripe aroundthe edge of body, same feeding ecology.

magickcanoe.com

godofinsects.com

wikipedia.org

Predaceous Diving Beetle Water Scavenger Beetle

godofinsects.com

Antennae filamentous, usuallytucked under head and not

visible from above.

Antennae clubbed at end.

PointyKeel

Smaller species look very different andsmall Water Scavenger Beetles usuallydon’t have a keel.

Crawling Water Beetles –Family Haliplidae

Cover over hind leg joint obscuresmost of abdomen

Very small spotted beetlewith rows of dents in elytra,slender antenna. Larva withlong “hairs”.

Most eat algae as larvae andadults.

waterbugkey.vcsu.edu

Drawings from An Introduction to the Aquatic Insects of North America ed. By Merritt and Cummins

Whirligig Beetles –Family Gyrinidae

Adults:Black beetles that live on surface, feed and scavenge small critterscaught in surface tension.2 sets of eyes (B).

waterbugkey.vcsu.edu

Larvae:Long processes on abdomen – gills

live in water and feed midge larvae and worms.

bugguide.net

Caddisflies -Family Tricoptera

Larvae grazeon plants and

detritus

Adults are terrestrial, look likesmall moths, but with peakedwings.

Drawings from An Introduction to the Aquatic Insects of North America ed. By Merritt and Cummins

Identify by the case they build:

Drawings from An Introduction to the Aquatic Insects of North America ed. By Merritt and Cummins

True Flies – Order Diptera

Culicidae

CulicidaeMosquitoLarvae and pupae are aquatics, adults terrestrial

midge

Phantom midge

No-see-um, punkie, biting midge These larvae are small –usually 1/2 inch or less.

More like Vienna sausages

Drawings from An Introduction to the Aquatic Insects of North America ed. By Merritt and Cummins

*

No-see-um

Midge

Mosquito

Crane fly

Arachnoids

Fishing spider

Mites

Very small, red-brownPredators and parasitesEaten by bladderworts!

May eat mosquito larvae!

pick5.pick.uga.edu

K.Ness