Adaptations of Stream Organisms

My group chose to research the totally awesome Riffle Beetle. At first, I didn't think that the Beetle was very interesting, but I was quickly proved wrong. I learned many things. The main thing I learned was that the Riffle Beetle needs a ton of dissolved oxygen and is therefore an indicator of great water quality. I also learned that the beetle has a complete life cycle with egg, larva, pupa, and adult stages. One thing I found cool was that the Riffle Beetle can use it's exoskeleton as an air bubble so it can breathe underwater. I also found that the talons that the beetle has help it latch on to rocks in the fast moving water that it requires. Lastly, I found out that there aren't many threats to the Riffle Beetle other than humans. Anything we do that negatively effects the dissolved oxygen of the stream can be detrimental to the Riffle Beetle.

Here's some things I learned...

Black Fly-

• Have a complete metamorphosis cycle
• Prefer riffle areas
• When in need of more oxygen, it uses a small thread to float downstream

Mayfly-

• Only get to live 1 day and use it to reproduce only
• Is the oldest flying insect fossil
• Incomplete metamorphosis cycle

Cranefly-

• Break down dead plant material for food
• Their bodies are completely water-proof
• Thousands of hairs all over them help them float on the water

I really enjoyed the relaxed attitude of the project. In the past, many projects I've worked on have been very specific and I really enjoyed the whole "do whatever you want" aspect. It really let us get creative and I loved that.

One of the challenges my group had to face was finding accurate information on the Riffle Beetle. Due to the fact that there are so many different species of beetles, it was hard to find information that was specific to our species of Beetle. But we did overcome this. We found a specific article that discussed multiple species including ours. Overall, I really enjoyed the project and the people I got to work with.