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 Cold Brook |
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| Basin: | Connecticut River |
| State or Province: | Vermont |
| Country: | USA |
| Latitude: | 42.897881 |
| Longitude: | -72.85537 |
| School: | Twin Valley |
Latitude and Longitude are estimates. It is unclear exactly where this stream was sampled. If Twin Valley team members are still using this site, please contact Declan to confirm location dmccabe@smcvt.edu.
The following are the most common invertebrates collected from this stream site.
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.
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.
Ceratopsyche
- Order
- Trichoptera
- Family
- Hydropsychidae
- Genus
- Ceratopsyche
Ceratopsyche has a
forked foretrochantin. The foretrochantin is the projection at the uppermost portion of the foreleg. The leg may need to be pulled away from the body to expose this feature.
Ceratopsyche have a
large pair of sclerites underneath the prosternum. Note: the large single sclerite is the prosternal plate. Biologists have gone back and forth between lumping this genus into
Hydropsyche and splitting it back out. ITIS currently lists it as a genus (Feb 2013) but we are aware of a recent paper that lumped it under
Hydropsyche.
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
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!
Agnetina
- Order
- Plecoptera
- Family
- Perlidae
- Genus
- Agnetina
Agnetina nymphs have cylindrical, striped abdomens. Like other Plecoptera, they have 2 tails and 2 claws on each tarsus. This genus has three black dots (ocelli) on the top of the head. Click to see the
three ocelli on the dorsum of the head (3 black dots at joint with the pronotum). This stonefly is characterized by the
filamentous gills located in the "armpits". Another important feature is the paraglossae and glossae extending different lengths. The
occiput has a transverse row of evenly spaced little hairs.
Agnetina has another row of evenly spaced hairs on the posterior edge of
abdominal segment 7.
Hexatoma
- Order
- Diptera
- Family
- Tipulidae
- Genus
- Hexatoma
This Tipulidae can be identified by the swollen 7th abdominal segment. The swelling is bulbous and frequently as much as 2X abdominal diameter in preserved specimens.
Tipulidae
- Order
- Diptera
- Family
- Tipulidae
- Common name
- The Crane Fly
- Tied fly
- Gangle Legs
Like other larvae from the order Diptera, members of the family Tipulidae (crane flies) lack legs. Tipulidae have retracted, difficult-to-see head capsules at one end, and a spiracular disk at the other end. The spiracular disk can sometimes look like a face leading to some confusion about which end is which. Upon gently cutting the head open, one can see that the mandibles are not parallel to each other, but rather move against each other.
The genera we've encountered include Antocha, Dicranota, Hexatoma, Limnophila, Molophilus, Pedecia and Tipula.
Dytiscus
- Order
- Coleoptera
- Family
- Dytiscidae
- Genus
- Dytiscus
Adult Dytiscidae have streamlined bodies and hind-legs modified for swimming. They are characterized by the division of the first abdominal segment by the hind coxae. Don't let the paired claws and prominent 'tails' of
Dytiscus larva tempt you to think 'stonefly'; these tails are far less segmented than Plecoptera tails.The head and jaws are also unlike those of stoneflies.
Images of the hind-legs, first abdominal segment, 'tails', Plecoptera tails, and the head and jaws.
Cold Brook
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