Undercut banks have long been appreciated by fisheries managers for their value as cover for salmonids, but their value to other species has not been documented. In two spring-fed streams surrounded by open meadows (Mono County, California), we found that several species of adult aquatic insects in the orders of Trichoptera, Plecoptera, and Lepidoptera hide beneath undercut banks during the day. A D-frame net was used to make collections from this habitat. Undercut banks may be especially important to adult aquatic insects emerging from streams surrounded by open meadows, where there is no overhead cover from shrubs or trees.
Keywords: aquatic insects, streams
The ESA 2001 Annual Meeting - 2001: An Entomological Odyssey of ESA