1 – Probably a Bullhead, not a Catfish. It’s tail is not deeply forked, or even slightly forked, rather somewhat squared off. Learn more at the NYS DEC by clicking here.
2 – Water Strider. (I haven’t learned the scientific names or even figured out if we have more than one species, yet… So far, I’ve been content to call it a Water Strider. A lot of my students call them “Water spiders”… Then I’ll catch a real water spider to show them the difference.
3 – Damselfly Larva. Several of you said Mayfly larva. Mayflies also have three “tails,” but they have gills on the outsides of their abdomens that appear to be fluttering in the breeze. This is a baby Damselfly. Again, I have no idea what species.
4 – Giant Waterbug. As TheMarvelous said, waterbug females lay their eggs on the backs of the males. I don’t know if other invertebrates do such a thing… While surfing around looking for other photos, etc, I learned that some folks call these “Toe Biters.” That made me laugh. Learn more by clicking here.
5 – Dragonfly Larva. Again, I don’t know the species. TheMarvelous suggests one of the skimmers. Could be! We see adult skimmers all summer. Good guessing, y’all!
Oh, my gosh… There’s a macroinvertebrate key online, too! Check it out:
http://people.virginia.edu/~sos-iwla/Stream-Study/Key/Key1.HTML
Well, learned something new today! I’ve never heard of a Bullhead (although I’m sure Blackburnian, who was a fisherguy back in his youth, would know it). I had a dream the other night about this particular fish, though I’m afraid I can’t recount the details anymore… Also, with the damselfly – I should’ve known that, too, after studying all those macroinvertebrates with my mom recently. Too quick to jump to conclusions, I guess!
Glad you liked my article.., Mayapples are a wonderful flower to shoot. Enjoy! Keep shooting.
Giant Waterbugs! Your post made me think of Annie Dillard!
Darn – sorry I missed the original quiz. Very cool post – and nice to see what those invertebrate ‘babies’ look like.