Aquatic insects and their importance in assessing ecosystem health

Abstract

Insects are the most successful group in the animal kingdom in terms of both richness and abundance and thus are the largest and most diverse group of invertebrates. They outnumber all animal species and compete with plant and microbial species richness. Among insects, aquatic insects are specialized group which exhibit rich adoptability and hence one more diverse. Micro and macro habitat distribution of aquatic insect population is due to their varied life style such as benthic (associated with the bottom substrates), clinging (clinging to the substrate with grasping claws or disks), sprawling (crawl along the protected surfaces of the substrates), climbing (reside on aquatic plant stems and other shoreline substrates), burrowing (burrow into the soft bottom), floating and swimming (which are not associated with a substrate for attachment).