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Damselflies
This group of bugs is one of the largest in
the world. When they become adults they are beautiful. They feed
on mosquitoes. Adults have territories that they defend aggressively.
They are known to be vicious predators. Occasionally, numbers
of adults join in mass flights for large distances. It is not
understood why they do this. The larvae exist underneath rocks.
They are carnivorous (meat eaters) and cannibalistic (eat their
own kind) and they are attracted to their prey by movement.
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Caddisflies
The word "caddis" refers
to their habit of constructing nets or cases. Caddis flies make
their houses out of, bark, or rocks found on the bottom of the
river. When they grow up, they are moth-like insects. They are
one of the most important food sources for fish. This is a drawing
of a caddisfly that made its home out of bark. It's called a
case maker. The case makers can increase the amount of oxygen
to their body by undulating their abdomen inside the case. The
case makers have to come out of their cases and grab their food,
but the net spinners make a net, so that when the water goes
by, it catches its food and then every once and a while they
check their net for their food.
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Stoneflies
Stoneflies are close relatives to
a cockroach. They are restricted to living in highly oxygenated
water. They can be found throughout the year. Once they become
adult, they only live from a few days to five weeks. Stoneflies
are herbivores. Males attract females by drumming on a rock.
Our class found a stonefly that was white. We put him in our
tank and he was doing this very weird movement. He was trying
to find a female. Females only mate once in a lifetime, but males
mate over and over. Our stonefly finally developed his colors.
Unfortunately, we didn't catch him a female yet.
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Mayflies
You can tell a mayfly from stonefly,
because mayflies have three tails rather than two. They are very
primitive insects. Adults usually have a short life span, often
less then a month. Trout love to eat them. As it moves out of
the larval stage it is especially vulnerable because it takes
a few minutes for its wings to work. Sometimes males swarm to
attract females. Females then fly through the swarm and are grabbed
by the male. They need a good supply of dissolved oxygen, although
there are a few species that can survive with low amounts.
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Pronggills Mayflies
These type of mayfly have gills on
the side of their abdomens.
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