Macroinvertebrate Gallery
For the Schuylkill Project, macroinvertebrate samples were collected annually (between late March and late April) for 12 years (1996-2007) at the 19 Long-Term study sites. The other 127 sites were sampled only once, between late March and late April from 2001 to 2007.
Data pages for each Schuylkill Project sampling site list the 10 most abundant macroinvertebrate taxa found at that site. Clicking on a macroinvertebrate name in the data table will bring up a pop-up window showing with a photo. This gallery has been provided so that all 54 taxa identified for the project can be viewed in the same page.
Macroinvertebrates are animals without a backbone that can be seen with the naked eye. These bottom-dwelling animals include crustaceans and worms but most are aquatic insects. Beetles, caddisflies, stoneflies, mayflies, hellgrammites, dragonflies, true flies, and some moths are among the groups of insects represented in streams. Macroinvertebrates are an important link in the food web between the producers (leaves, algae) and higher consumers such as fish.
