Some insects will only live in the freshest, cleanest water. Others are happy in any dirty old bog. Scientists can use the bugs in a water source as an indicator of water quality, and in a variety of citizen science projects, you can too.
But you have to know which water bugs are which, and that’s the purpose of a new and incredibly detailed website called The Atlas of Common Freshwater Macroinvertebrates of North America. (Do not click that link unless you like looking at pictures of bugs.)
The website has an identification key, so you can answer a few quick questions and quickly find the right group of creatures—for example, if it has three tails it’s in the damselfly order. And then you can browse the different species in detail; each creature was photographed thousands of times so you don’t miss anything. (Again, do not click these links unless you really, really like looking at pictures of bugs.)
The website highlights and explains the differences between similar species, making it easier to use than traditional field guides. Only the most common species are included, so it’s not an exhaustive list, but it’s meant to be handy for students and citizen scientists—or anybody who finds a bug in a stream and wants to know what it is.