Aquatic Insects

Insects have successfully inhabited all freshwater habitats on Earth and are often the most diverse and abundant species in streams and ponds. With a disproportionally high species richness compared to the area covered by freshwaters, aquatic insects represent a hotspot of diversity. They play crucial roles in aquatic food webs as primary consumers, detritivores, and predators, but they also represent an important food resource for aquatic and terrestrial predators. Many aquatic insect orde...