MACROINVERTEBRATES.ORG
  • PROJECT
  • PEOPLE
  • PRODUCTS
  • Blog
  • Resources
    • Help
    • FAQ

Recommended Identification Resources

5/31/2019

 
By Dr. John Morse, Clemson University.

Here are some resources you will be able to use after you have learned to recognize diagnostic characters, thanks to this website (beginning with most recent):

​Merritt, R.W., K.W. Cummins, and M.B. Berg. (2019) An Introduction to the Aquatic Insects of North America, 5th edition. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, Dubuque, Iowa. 1300 pp.

[Covers general ecology and identification of North American aquatic insects to the level of genus; also includes tables for habitat, habit, feeding behaviors, general distribution, and tolerance values for each genus, with comprehensive bibliography.]
NOTE: This volume is scheduled to be published next month, possibly before our launch date, but certainly very soon.


Morse, J.C., W.P. McCafferty, B.P. Stark, & L.M. Jacobus. (2017) Larvae of the Southeastern USA Mayfly, Stonefly, and Caddisfly Species (Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera). Biota of South Carolina, volume 9. Technical Bulletin 1109, PSA Publishing, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina. 482 pp.
[Covers identification of southeastern USA mayfly, stonefly, and caddisfly larvae to level of genus and species.]

Thorp, J.H., and D.C. Rogers. (2016) Thorp and Covich's Freshwater Invertebrates--Volume II: Keys to Nearctic Fauna. Elsevier, Boston, Massachusetts (etc.). 740 pp.

[Covers identification of freshwater invertebrates (Protozoa and 14 invertebrate phyla) for North America, sometimes to level of genus, insects to level of family only.]

Triplehorn, C.A., and N.F. Johnson. (2005) Borror and DeLong's Introduction to the Study of Insects, 7th edition. Thomson Brooks/Cole, Belmont, California (etc.). 864 pp.
https://www.worldcat.org/title/borror-and-delongs-introduction-to-the-study-of-insects/oclc/55793895
[Covers general ecology and identification of North American insect families for aquatic and terrestrial adults.]

Bouchard, R.W., Jr. (2004) Guide to Aquatic Invertebrates of the Upper Midwest. Regents of the University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota. 207 pp.
https://midge.cfans.umn.edu/midwest-guide
[Covers identification of freshwater invertebrates of the Upper Midwest, USA, to family level; also includes feeding behaviors, tolerance values, and primary habitat preferences.]

Voshell, J.R., Jr. (2002) A Guide to Common Freshwater Invertebrates of North America. McDonald & Woodward Publishing Company, Blacksburg, Virginia. 442 pp.
https://www.worldcat.org/title/guide-to-common-freshwater-invertebrates-of-north-america/oclc/48966604
[Covers general ecology and identification of 100 most-common freshwater invertebrate groups for North America to level of invertebrate phyla and insect families.]​

Site Featured in NWQMC Newsletter

5/30/2019

 

Macroinvertebrates.org featured in Spring 19 National Water Quality Monitoring Council's Newsletter.

​Following our site training workshop at the 2019 Annual National Water Quality Monitoring Conference in Denver with Tara Munez, Stroud Water Research Institute, the site was also featured in the quarterly National Water Quality Monitoring Council quarterly newsletter.  We're thrilled to receive the coverage and hope to reach a broader audience of users. 

 https://acwi.gov/monitoring/newsletter/national-monitoring-news_spring2019.pdf
national-monitoring-news_spring2019.pdf
File Size: 2385 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Dragon&Damselfly Off Color Video

5/22/2019

 
This video was shared with us, while not deemed appropriate for the site...it is a humorous take on the life"style" of a dragonfly with a self-consciously anthropomorphic, locker room humour. 

Adding more interactivity to the key

5/6/2019

 
by Chelsea Cui, undergraduate research assistant, CMU
​Hi, it’s Chelsea again! This spring I have been working with Jaclyn, our new designer, on a revision of the Order level key. Based on our previous usability test results, this time we decided to focus on the improvement of interactivity and element affordance. We wondered if making the key clickable and having paths highlight would make the key easier to follow. Here’s Jaclyn’s rough prototype:
​Since the new key has more interactive features, it requires more customized HTML and JavaScript components. To implement the design, I first tried to use SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) techniques that I learned from my web development class to draw the key  within HTML manually, but the outcome did not resemble the design well since it is hard to control the exact location of the endpoints of the lines.
 
In order to find a better solution, I did some research and found that Adobe XD, the design tool used by Jaclyn, can export graphic designs to SVG images. By loading the SVG image in a browser, I was able to get the code version of the design and move it to the html file. However, since all components in the image, including lines, dots, and rectangles, are represented as separate vectors in the code and there is no meaningful order, it is necessary to label all the components with meaningful names and group them into different classes before further implementing the JavaScript part.
 
At this point, I have added all the popup windows and labeled most order pictures, but I will not be in CMU during the summer, so this project is on hold. For future developers, I would suggest to follow these steps:
 
  1. Inspect the page source.
  2. Group components related to each couplet, including the rectangle and texts, into a <g> group and give it an id that can describe the couplet well.
  3. Group the line vectors by path name and give them class = “path”.
  4. Group the paths related to each couplet and give them a class based on the entities connected.
  5. Use JavaScript to track the currently active couplets and paths, and change enable color change if a new option is clicked.

    Project Team

    An interdisciplinary team
    ​of entomologists, learning scientists, software engineers and designers collaborating to improve macroinvertebrate identification training and technologies with volunteer biomonitoring organizations.

    Categories

    All
    Broader Impacts
    By Clemson
    By CMU
    By Educators
    By Powdermill
    By Stroud
    Design Studies
    Educator Innovations
    Entomology
    Imaging
    Learning Research
    Mobile App
    NSF REU
    User Research

    Archives

    January 2021
    December 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    May 2020
    November 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    March 2018
    December 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016

    RSS Feed

Project INFO

ABOUT
www.ept.macroinvertebrates.org
NSF Award  Listing

Partners

Learning Media Design Center@CMU
CREATE Lab @CMU
​
Clemson University 
Stroud Water Research Center
Carnegie Museum of Natural History

Collaborators

ALLARM
MD Streamwaders
Senior Environmental Corp
Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy

Trout Unlimited
Picture
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant #1623969.
Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of NSF. ​​

  • PROJECT
  • PEOPLE
  • PRODUCTS
  • Blog
  • Resources
    • Help
    • FAQ