The Wild and Wonderful World of Stream Bugs

Abstract

Under the surface of most streams a strange world exists, made up of hundreds of small critters called aquatic invertebrates. “Aquatic” means they live in the water and “invertebrate” means they have no backbones or even skeletons. Some have body parts that look like they came from an alien planet. Some have slippery bodies adapted to rushing stream water. These organisms play many important roles. Some live for up to 7 years and others live for as little as 2 weeks. Some eat slime growing on stream rocks and others eat leaves. Some, like the golden stonefly, even stalk and eat other invertebrates, like a tiger in a jungle. In national parks and around the world, scientists use these insects, worms, leeches, and mites to tell if the water is healthy. We can do this because certain stream invertebrates disappear if water is polluted, or if the stream habitat is degraded.