Kai's research thread/caddisfly geekout

[Kai]

I just sent a whole bunch of emails out to various people about possibilities of collaboration, making connections, etc. The only person I haven't sent one to is my adviser, because I don't t think he will get it in time for it to be relevant. I may just try to talk with him later this week.

[Kai]

Went collecting today, found this outfall near a road bridge that had nets all over it. When I go back on thursday I'll get pictures.

For now, I got a whole bunch of pics of a Hydropsyche betteni. Spent the whole afternoon doing dissections of these.

[Vene]

Tiny little fucker, what do you use to dissect it?

My guess is something like this:

[Kai]

Regular stereo dissecting microscope. The one I'm using is 20-30 years old. Works just fine.

The difficulty I am finding is not the scope but the limitation of my fingers and the forceps and other tools I am using. I have a set of microtools but I don't have a really good pair of micro siscors (sp), so I end up tearing up several specimens before getting the view I want.

Cute little buggers though.

[Vene]

Regular stereo dissecting microscope. The one I'm using is 20-30 years old. Works just fine.

Nothing wrong with old technology.

Cute little buggers though.

That they are.

[Kai]

A bit of interest about the scope I'm using. Years ago, PhD student used it for his dissertation research. Now hes a professor at the University of Minnesota. The photographic prints of drawings he made looking through that scope that were published in a well used and respected taxonomic guidebook are hanging on my office walls.

[Kai]

Another update: I just received word from the curator of the entomology collection at a certain museum that I am more than welcome to examine the associated specimens, whether that means going to the museum or having them shipped here. This is exciting because it means I won't be doing my morphotype associations cold, I'll have a set of data to compare them to.

~Kai

[Ludwig]

that little creature (the Hydropsyche betteni) is quite cute, also you can pretend that it likes you a lot because it clings.

Could I find some?  I would like to see one.

[Kai]

Go out to any shallow stream in your area. Start taking rocks out of the water. You will see all kinds of critters on them. Some of the organisms will be Hydropsychid caddisflies, likely Cheumatopsyche and Hydropsyche species. Look on coarse woody debris too, and in and around leaf pack. If you have a white enamel pan, sort your debris in there with a bit of water. The white enamel will make them easier to see.

Some notes on this though: the water has to be flowing fast enough, and cool enough, and also have good water quality. Hydropsychid caddisfly larvae are in general more tolerant than other families, but not that tolerant. They also don't do well in a trickle, since they are filter feeders and need flow for their nets to work.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

There are probably some in Balch Creek.

[Kai]

Also, extra credit if you take a picture of anything cool you find and post it. If its a good picture I may be able to identify it.

Also also, this is really the wrong time of year for collecting. Late winter, spring and summer are best, fall and early winter are worst. The obvious reason for this is that all the adults have died by fall and it takes time for the critters to grow in the water. By late winter many are at their last larval instar and large, some are getting ready to pupate. Spring emergence starts anywhere from March to May for some species, depending on the latitude.

[Ludwig]

thank you, this will be great!

do they like shady streams or sunny ones?

[Kai]

The sun is not the issue, so much as the water temperature. Temp gets too warm, less dissolved oxygen in the water and they have trouble with gas exchange.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Balch creek is nice and cool, and is also mostly shaded. It's a hillside creek, and hosts a lot of fauna including trout, salamanders, and crawdads... sound like a likely candidate?

[Kai]

Balch creek is nice and cool, and is also mostly shaded. It's a hillside creek, and hosts a lot of fauna including trout, salamanders, and crawdads... sound like a likely candidate?

In a word, YES.  If its a rocky gravely substrate, double yes.

In longer words, if a stream has trout in it, its garanteed to have some sort of macroinvertebrate population, because otherwise the trout couldn't eat.

I'm excited to see pictures if you get anything.