Aquatic Hydrophilidae and Hydraenidae of Wisconsin (Coleoptera). II. Distribution, Habitat, Life Cycle and Identification of Species of Hydrobiini and Hydrophilini (Hydrophiudae: Hydrophilinae)

Nine genera and 30 species of Hydrobiini and 3 genera and 12 species of Hydrophilini were found in Wisconsin, including a new species of Laccobius. Life cycles of all species of lentic Hydrobiini were similar; adults overwinter in terrestrial habitats, return to aquatic sites in spring to mate, oviposit adjacent to these sites, and eventually die. The riparian larvae complete development, pupate, and emerge sometime during the summer depending on the species and habitat, and teneral adults disperse to suitable aquatic habitats. Adults enter overwintering sites in late summer or early autumn. Lotic species of Cymbiodyta have a similar life cycle, with larvae probably developing along stream banks. Other lotic species, Crenitis digesta, Hydrobius melaenus, and Sperchopsis tessellata, apparently are semivoltine with both larvae and adults overwintering along margins of streams. In Hydrophilini, life cycles of Hydrochara and Hydrophilus are the same as described above for lentic Hydrobiini, except larvae are aquatic, developing in lentic habitats. Life cycles of Tropisternus also differ in having aquatic larvae; they differ further in having adults that overwinter in aquatic habitats, especially streams, deep ponds, and lakes, which they enter in late summer and autumn. Tropisternus ellipticus is lotic, with larvae and adults inhabiting streams, and larvae completing development in mid-summer. Keys to species of adults are included along with information about each species, which includes distribution and abundance in Wisconsin, range in North America, habitat, life cycle, and notes on identification

Up and away: ontogenic transference as a pathway for aerial dispersal of microplastics

Microplastics (MPs) are ubiquitous pollutants found in marine, freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems. With so many MPs in aquatic systems it is inevitable that they will be ingested by aquatic organisms, and be transferred up through the food chain. However, to date, no study has considered whether MPs can be transmitted by means of ontogenic transference i.e. between life stages that utilise different habitats. Here, we determine whether fluorescent polystyrene beads could transfer between Culex mosquito life stages and, particularly, could move into the flying adult stage. We show for the first time that MPs can be transferred ontogenically from a feeding (larva) into a non-feeding (pupa) life stage and subsequently into the adult terrestrial life stage. However, transference is dependent on particle size, with smaller 2 µm MPs transferring readily into pupae and adult stages, whilst 15 µm MPs transferred at a significantly reduced rate. Microplastics appear to accumulate in the Malpighian tubule renal excretion system. The transfer of MPs to the adults represents a potential aerial pathway to contamination of new environments. Thus, any organism that feeds on terrestrial life phases of freshwater insects could be impacted by MPs found in aquatic ecosystems

Aquatic Hydrophilidae and Hydraenidae of Wisconsin (Coleoptera). I. Introduction, Key to Genera of Adults, and Distribution, Habitat, Life Cycle, and Identification of Species of \u3ci\u3eHelophorus\u3c/i\u3e Fabricius, \u3ci\u3eHydrochus\u3c/i\u3e Leach, and \u3ci\u3eBerosus\u3c/i\u3e Leach (Hydrophilidae), and Hydraenidae

The 3,920 Helophorus (Helophorinae) adults collected in Wisconsin included 16 species, two of which were new species. Helophorus orientalis and H. lacustris predominated. Three types of univoltine life cycles occurred: (1) adults overwinter in terrestrial habitats and larvae complete development in riparian habitats from early summer to early autumn, depending on the spe­cies; (2) the same as type 1, except eggs and a few adults overwinter; (3) larvae, pupae, and/or recently emerged adults overwinter and teneral adults occur in aquatic habitats in early spring. Nine species of Hydrochus (Hydrochinae) were found among 6,278 adults, with H. squamifer predominating. All had a similar univoltine life cycle in which adults overwinter in terrestrial habitats and enter aquatic sites in spring; larvae complete development in riparian habitats from late spring to late summer, depending on the species. Eight species and 5,167 adults of Berosus (HydrophIlinae: Berosini) occurred. WIth B. striatus predominating; their univoltine life cycles varied greatly among species. Some species overwinter as diapausing eggs (B. aculeatus, B. peregrinus, B. stylifer), others as adults in terrestrial habitats (B. pantherinus, B. fraternus), one as aquatic larvae (), and another as adults and larvae (B. fraternus). Only 35 Hydraenidae adults were collected; included were Hydraena angulicollis, H. pennsylvanica, and Ochthebius lineatus. A generic key to aquatic Hydropbilidae adults and keys to species of Helophorus, Hydrochus, Berosus, and Hydraenidae in Wisconsin are provided. Following each species key is information about species that includes distribution and abundance in Wisconsin, range in North America, habitat, life cycle, and notes on identification

Comparison of Two Population Sampling Methods Used in Field Life History Studies of \u3ci\u3eMesovelia Mulsanti\u3c/i\u3e (Heteroptera: Gerromorpha: Mesoveliidae) in Southern Illinois

A field life history study of Mesovelia mulsanti was conducted in south­ern Illinois, the results of which are compared with those from an earlier study also conducted in southern Illinois. The two studies differed in the collecting techniques used (quadrat sampler versus aquatic net). Results of the present study give a clearer picture of the life history of this insect be­ cause the quadrat sampler collected representative samples of nymphs and adults more effectively than the aquatic net and, thus, the quadrat samples more accurately represented the actual chronology of the annual generations

Dissolved Oxygen Monitoring in Kings River and Leatherwood Creek

The Clean Water Act (CWA) establishes the basic structure used to regulate water quality. Under the CWA, States are required to assess water bodies relative to water‐quality standards and designated beneficial uses and then to submit lists of impaired bodies every other year to the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). In 2015, at least 4,800 water bodies were listed as impaired by dissolved oxygen across the US (USEPA, 2015). Aquatic species like fish and macroinvertebrates depend on adequate dissolved oxygen for survival. Low dissolved oxygen can lead to fish kills, reduced aquatic diversity, and nuisance smells from anaerobic conditions – ultimately, low dissolved oxygen concentrations result in water bodies not being able to meet the aquatic life designated use

Diel dissolved oxygen patterns and aquatic life use assessment

This report mentions Waller Creek as one of three streams "listed as "of concern" for DO impairments".Diel dissolved oxygen (DO) data from 318 deployments at 38 stream sites were evaluated for spatial and temporal patterns and compared using TCEQ aquatic life use assessment DO criteria versus benthic macroinvertebrate aquatic life use categories. Diel DO data suggest that Austin streams generally maintain high or excellent aquatic life use potential. TCEQ assessment methods may not be appropriate for identifying aquatic life use impairments in some high quality Austin streams, and may yield impairments based on DO that are not observed in benthic macroinvertebrate data. Additional investigation of low DO in Bull Creek preserve lands is needed.Waller Creek Working Grou

New Records for \u3ci\u3eEuhrychiopsis Lecontei\u3c/i\u3e (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) and Their Densities in Wisconsin Lakes

The native aquatic weevil, Euhrychiopsis lecontei is currently being researched as a potential biological control for the exotic aquatic macrophyte Eurasian watermilfoil (Myriophyllum spicatum), yet little is known about its specific distribution in North America. In this study, E. lecontei was collected in 25 of 27 lakes surveyed for the weevil in Wisconsin, greatly increasing the known distribution of the species in this state. E. lecontei densities evaluated in 14 Wisconsin lakes ranged from \u3c0.01 to 1.91 weevils per apical stem of milfoil. These new records indicate that E. lecontei is widespread throughout Wisconsin and is associated with natural declines of M. spicatum in some lakes. Additional sampling for E. lecontei and research on its ecology and life history are needed to understand the role of this organism in aquatic ecosystems

An Emergence Trap for Aquatic Insects

Excerpt: The identification of organisms is a prerequisite to developing water quality criteria for aquatic life. Identification is necessary because differences in water quality requirements are specific and may be different for closely allied species. The taxonomy of various species, particularly those associated with the aquatic environment, is much more detailed and better known for adults than for immature instars. To facilitate correlation of adult and larval forms, a trap was needed to collect the emerging adults from the various streams

If You Provide It, Will They Read It? The Effect of Information on Choices

This paper investigates the effect of information on respondent's choices in an internet survey for measuring the value of water quality improvements in Deckers Creek (DC) watershed in Monongalia and Peterson Counties of West Virginia, USA. A multiattribute, choice experiment and multinomial logit (MNL) models are used in estimating the marginal utilities of restoring the three attributes of DC: aquatic life, swimming safety, and scenic quality. Response times serve as proxy variables regarding whether respondents read or did not read all the information provided in the survey. Response times fell quickly, but then tapered off as they progressed through the various sections of the survey. Results show that the estimated coefficients of subsamples, read and did not read all the information, were statistically different from each other. Based on log likelihood tests of MNL models, two subsamples of the survey population (read and did not read all information) were found to be from different populations. Estimates of marginal utilities reveal that respondents value aquatic life restoration the highest, followed by scenic quality restoration. Average compensating variation estimates for full restoration of the aquatic life and scenic quality attributes are $9 and$ 6 per month per household, respectively, when the subsamples are pooled. However, the individual subsamples resulted in $5 per month for aquatic life and$3 per month for scenic quality for respondents that read the information, while respondents that did not read the information resulted in statistically higher estimates of $16 and$12, respectively. While respondents' motives for not reading the resource information provided is uncertain, results show their values for watershed restoration are substantially higher than respondents that read the information.Demand and Price Analysis,

Developing a novel approach to analyse the regimes of temporary streams and their controls on aquatic biota

Temporary streams are those water courses that undergo the recurrent cessation of flow or the complete drying of their channel. The biological communities in temporary stream reaches are strongly dependent on the temporal changes of the aquatic habitats determined by the hydrological conditions. The use of the aquatic fauna structural and functional characteristics to assess the ecological quality of a temporary stream reach can not therefore be made without taking into account the controls imposed by the hydrological regime. This paper develops some methods for analysing temporary streams' aquatic regimes, based on the definition of six aquatic states that summarize the sets of mesohabitats occurring on a given reach at a particular moment, depending on the hydrological conditions: flood, riffles, connected, pools, dry and arid. We used the water discharge records from gauging stations or simulations using rainfall-runoff models to infer the temporal patterns of occurrence of these states using the developed aquatic states frequency graph. The visual analysis of this graph is complemented by the development of two metrics based on the permanence of flow and the seasonal predictability of zero flow periods. Finally, a classification of the aquatic regimes of temporary streams in terms of their influence over the development of aquatic life is put forward, defining Permanent, Temporary-pools, Temporary-dry and Episodic regime types. All these methods were tested with data from eight temporary streams around the Mediterranean from MIRAGE project and its application was a precondition to assess the ecological quality of these streams using the current methods prescribed in the European Water Framework Directive for macroinvertebrate communities