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 Snipe Island Brook |
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| Stream code: | WR_SIBrk_714 |
| Basin: | Winooski River |
| State or Province: | Vermont |
| Country: | USA |
| Latitude: | 44.42312 |
| Longitude: | -72.94413 |
| School: | Saint Michael's College |
The following are the most common invertebrates collected from this stream site.
Chironomidae
- Order
- Diptera
- Family
- Chironomidae
- Common name
- Nonbiting midge
- Tied fly
- Griffith's Gnat
Midge larvae tend to be the most common macroinvertebrate at our sites. As with other Diptera, there are no true jointed legs. Chironomidae do have a pair of prolegs at each end and preserved individuals tend to curl into a 'C'. Identification past family requires slide-mounted heads. We have seen philopotamid caddisflies misidentified with the chironomids and we suspect that that happens when samples are being sorted from trays. Under a microscope, six prominent legs can be seen on members of the caddisfly family Philopotamidae.
More information on Philopotamidae.
Heptageniidae
- Order
- Ephemeroptera
- Family
- Heptageniidae
- Common name
- flatheaded mayfly
- Tied fly
- Light Cahill, Wingless Pale Evening Dun
This family of mayflies can be characterized by their distinctly flattened heads and striking resemblance of the character 'Jack Skellington' from the movie 'The Nightmare Before Christmas.' This family can either have two or three cerci (tails).
Commonly encountered genera include:
Epeorus
Heptagenia
Maccaffertium
Rhithrogena
Dolophilodes
- Order
- Trichoptera
- Family
- Philopotamidae
- Genus
- Dolophilodes
Baetis
- Order
- Ephemeroptera
- Family
- Baetidae
- Genus
- Baetis
- Common name
- The Little Olive
- Tied fly
- Sawyer Pheasant Tail Nymph
This mayfly has three "tails" and a unique head shape. Its gills are oval shaped and insert dorsally. More mature nymphs have long, dark wing pads.
Image of the long, dark wing pads.
Leuctra
- Order
- Plecoptera
- Family
- Leuctridae
- Genus
- Leuctra
This family of stonefly is fairly slender by stonefly standards. The divergent wing pads are a helpful characteristic. Leuctridae are similar in overall shape to the Capniidae; however, Leuctridae often do not have pleural folds. If they are present, they only extend from abdominal segments 1-7.
Leuctra are recognized by abdominal terga with posterior fringes of short hairs and last few segments with longer hairs.
Image of the divergent wing pads.
Chimarra
- Order
- Trichoptera
- Family
- Philopotamidae
- Genus
- Chimarra
Chimarra are distinguished from the other Philopotamidae by a prominent asymmetrical notch in the frontoclypeus as well as a prominent process on the femur which bears a single hair (seta).
Images of the asymmetrical notch and prominent process.
Heptagenia
- Order
- Ephemeroptera
- Family
- Heptageniidae
- Genus
- Heptagenia
- Tied fly
- Little Graywinged Olive
Heptagenia are easily characterized by their flat head. The claws have just one basal tooth and no denticles (serrated edges). The gill on abdominal segment 7 has multiple fibrils at is base (thread-like structures) and has a single tooth on its claws but is smooth otherwise. Gills on segment 7 are similar to those on all other segments, but may be smaller in size.
Leptophlebiidae
- Order
- Ephemeroptera
- Family
- Leptophlebiidae
- Common name
- pronggill mayfly
Glossosomatidae
- Order
- Trichoptera
- Family
- Glossosomatidae
- Common name
- saddlecase caddisfly
Larvae in this family build domed cases made of small rocks, and are often wider at segment 5. The pronotum is covered in dark, sclerotized plates, but there are either
no sclerites on the mesonotum, or the mesonotum is unsclerotized with the exception of a few patches. The anal proleg is broadly joined to segment 9; the anal claw has one or more accessory hooks. The
pronotal excision is small (approximately 1/3 anterolaterally) to accommodate the coxae.
Commonly encountered genera include Glossosoma and Agapetus.
Paraleptophlebia
- Order
- Ephemeroptera
- Family
- Leptophlebiidae
- Genus
- Paraleptophlebia
- Common name
- The Blue Quill
- Tied fly
- Blue Quill
Leptophlebiidae have forked, tufted, or fringed gills.
Paraleptophlebia typically have labrums less than 1/2 as wide as head anteriorly, which is considered "shallow." There are minute spinules present on posterior margins of abdominal terga 1-10.
Image of the forked, tufted, or fringed gills.
Simuliidae
- Order
- Diptera
- Family
- Simuliidae
Simuliidae appear rather like bowling pins with heads. Relatively speaking, we collect few members of this family and have we have not identified them past family at this point.
Click here for a close up image of the heads.
Optioservus
- Order
- Coleoptera
- Family
- Elmidae
- Genus
- Optioservus
The larvae of
Optioservus have open coxae, as determined by the straight definition between segments on the ventral side of the pronotum.
The adult Optioservus have a compact appearance, especially the head and thorax. There are also dorsal ridges and a characteristic diamond-shaped sutellum observable in the dorsal view.
Images of the straight definition between segments, the dorsal ridgesand the diamond-shaped scutellum.
Perlidae
- Order
- Plecoptera
- Family
- Perlidae
- Common name
- The Golden Stonefly Creeper
- Tied fly
- Connecticut Curler
This stonefly is characterized by the three pairs of filamentous gills located on the sides of all three thoracic segments. It is distinguished from the family Pteronarcyidae by the absence of gills on the abdominal segments. Often, the thoracic terga are brightly patterned as pictured, though this is not always the case. Another important feature is that the paraglossae and glossae extend different lengths.
Images of filamentous gills and the family Pteronarcyidae.
Genera commonly encountered in this family include Acroneuria, Agnetina, and Paragnetina. Less commonly, we have found Perlesta.
Very rarely encountered genera include Neoperla and Hansonoperla. If you believe you have found either of these, please send a specimen our way!
Rhyacophila
- Order
- Trichoptera
- Family
- Rhyacophilidae
- Genus
- Rhyacophila
- Common name
- Green Caddis
- Tied fly
- Henryville Special or Glass Bead Caddis
In our lab,
Rhyacophila is known as the "Michelin Man" due to its large banded body. It has a very obviously checker-patterned head. It also has terrifying anal claws with large accessory hooks.
Links to images that may be useful if you have a magnifying glass or microscope:
Checker-patterned head.
Anal claws with large accessory hooks.
Snipe Island Brook
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