Englesby Brook

ORDER: Trichoptera
FAMILY: Hydropsychidae
GENUS: Cheumatopsyche

Cheumatopsyche has a forked foretrochantin (as does Ceratopsyche). The foretrochantin is the projection at the uppermost portion of the front leg closest to the head. The leg may need to be pulled away from the body to expose this feature.

Cheumatopsyche have a small or inconspicuous pair of sclerites under the prosternal plate that are difficult to see.  Contrast that with the larger pair of sclerites found on Ceratopsyche.  To access sclerites, it's best to gently pull the pronotum and mesonotum in opposite directions. Note: the large single sclerite is the prosternal plate.

Cheumatopsyche have only 2 types of hair on the abdomen: long thin plain hairs and thicker club hairs, which are narrow close to the body and widen out at the distal end. Paired sclerites on the ninth abdominal segment are notched. SMC

ORDER: Diptera
FAMILY: Simuliidae

What's not to like about blackflies?  Our second most common dipteran.  Rather like a bowling pin with hands attached at the head end.  We have not identified them past family at this point, but it is in the long-term plan.
NABS

ORDER: Diptera
FAMILY: Chironomidae

 Midge larvae tend to be the most common macroinvertebrate at our sites.  As with other Diptera, there are no true jointed legs.  Chironomids do have a pair of prolegs at each end and preserved individuals tend to curl into a 'C'.  Identification past family requires slide-mounted heads.  We have seen philopotamid caddisflies misidentified with the chironomids and we suspect that that happens when samples are being sorted from trays.  Under a microscope, six prominent legs can be seen on the philopotamids.

NABS
ORDER: Trichoptera
FAMILY: Hydropsychidae

This family of net-spinning caddisflies is very abundant at several sites.  They are important filtering collectors and are quite common at urban and agricultural sites where particles of organic material can be important food resources.  Genus-level identification is possible for mature specimens and we will include the genera we found at your site if possible.  In general we commonly find Cheumatopsyche, Ceratopsyche, and Hydropsyche.

When using the key, some features that are challenging to see are the forked trochantin and the paired sclerites in the folds between segments.  Keep in mind that with smaller specimens, genus-level ID may not be possible.

ORDER: Trichoptera
FAMILY: Hydropsychidae
GENUS: Ceratopsyche

Ceratopsyche has a forked foretrochantin. The foretrochantin is the projection at the uppermost portion of the foreleg. The leg may need to be pulled away from the body to expose this feature.

Ceratopsyche have a large pair of sclerites underneath the prosternum. Note: the large single sclerite is the prosternal plate. SMC

ORDER: Coleoptera
FAMILY: Elmidae
GENUS: Stenelmis

Riffle beetles appear in the streams as adults and larvae. The larvae of Stenelmis have a sternum on the ventral side of the pronotum.

The adult Stenelmis has a clear separation between the thorax and abdomen as well as a more distinctly separate head as compared to other genera. SMC

ORDER: Diptera
FAMILY: Tipulidae
GENUS: Dicranota

Dicranota can be distinguished by the two tails and their comb feet. There are usually 5 pairs of prolegs on the abdomen with combs on them. In addition, the posterior portion of the abdomen often has a slight swelling. SMC

PHYLUM: Annelida
CLASS: Oligochaeta

Aquatic earthworms lack legs and are characterized by having 20 or more segments. Unlike leeches, they lack a suction disk.

CLASS: Bivalvia Image source wikimedia
The most common bivalve we encounter in streams is the fingernail clam (FAMILY: Sphaeriidae; pictured above).  There are other, larger bivalves that occur in rivers, but we have only infrequently found them in kick samples.  When we do find them, our policy is to photograph them (with a ruler or coin for scale) and return them quickly to the same riffle.  Zebra mussels are most unlikely to show up in river samples, but if you work in zebra mussel-infested waters, it is important to follow DEC guidelines before working or using equipment in other water bodies.