White Clay Creek State Park

The Common Baskettail (Epitheca cynosura) is a dragonfly of the Corduliidae family. The thorax is brown and hairy. Some specimens have a triangular spot at the base of the hindwing. Individuals are difficult to distinguish from the other species in this genus. The caudal appendages (structures at the tip of the abdomen) differ between the species and can be compared with known drawings or close-up photos. Their flight season can begin as early as January and... less ↑

Mayflies or shadflies are insects belonging to the order Ephemeroptera (from the Greek εφήμερος, ephemeros = "short-lived" (literally "lasting a day" "daily" or "day-long"), and πτερόν, pteron = "wing", referring to the brief lifespan of adults). They have been placed into an ancient group of insects termed the Palaeoptera, which also contains dragonflies and damselflies. They are aquatic insects whose immature stage (called "naiad" or, colloquially, "nymph") usually lasts one year in fresh water. The adults... less ↑

Heptageniidae (Synonym: Ecdyonuridae) is a family of mayflies with over 500 described species mainly distributed in the Holarctic, Oriental, and Afrotropical regions, and also present in the Central American Tropics and extreme northern South America. These are generally rather small mayflies with three long tails. The wings are usually clear with prominent venation although species with variegated wings are known. As in most mayflies, the males have large compound eyes but not divided into upper and... less ↑

The caddisflies are an order, Trichoptera, of insects with approximately 12,000 described species. Also called sedge-flies or rail-flies, they are small moth-like insects having two pairs of hairy membranous wings. They are closely related to Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies) which have scales on their wings, and the two orders together form the superorder Amphiesmenoptera. Caddisflies have aquatic larvae and are found in a wide variety of habitats such as streams, rivers, lakes, ponds, spring seeps, and... less ↑

Damselflies are insects of suborder Zygoptera in the order Odonata. They are similar to dragonflies, which constitute the other odonatan suborder, Anisoptera, but are smaller, have slimmer bodies, and most species fold the wings along the body when at rest. An ancient group, damselflies have existed since at least the Lower Permian, and are found on every continent except Antarctica. less ↑

The skimmers or perchers and their relatives form the Libellulidae, the largest dragonfly family in the world. It is sometimes considered to contain the Corduliidae as the subfamily Corduliinae and the Macromiidae as the subfamily Macromiinae. Even if these are excluded (as Silsby does), there still remains a family of over 1000 species. With nearly worldwide distribution, these are almost certainly the most often seen of all dragonflies. less ↑

The Perlidae are a family of stoneflies, with a total of 84 species in 15 genera. The majority of the Perlidae are found in eastern North America, but they occur world-wide except for Antarctica and parts of Africa. Their lifecycles range between one and three years. They adults emerge in the summer; they are very active and known to be attracted to light sources. They are usually very sensitive to changes in environment. less ↑

Oscillatoria is a genus of filamentous cyanobacterium which is named for the oscillation in its movement. Filaments in the colonies can slide back and forth against each other until the whole mass is reoriented to its light source. It is commonly found in watering-troughs waters, and is mainly blue-green or brown-green. Oscillatoria is an organism that reproduces by fragmentation. Oscillatoria forms long filaments of cells which can break into fragments called hormogonia. The hormogonia can grow... less ↑

Spirogyra is a genus of filamentous green algae of the order Zygnematales, named for the helical or spiral arrangement of the chloroplasts that is diagnostic of the genus. It is commonly found in freshwater areas, and there are more than 400 species of Spirogyra in the world.Spirogyra measures approximately 10 to 100μm in width and may stretch centimeters long. less ↑

Zygnema is a genus of freshwater filamentous thalloid alga comprising about 100 species. A terrestrial species, Z. terrestre, is known from India. Zygnema grows as a free-floating mass of filaments, although young plants may be found anchored to streambeds with a holdfast. The filaments form a yellow-green to bright green colored tangled mat, and are composed of elongate barrel-shaped cells, each with two star-shaped chloroplasts arrayed one after the other along the axis of the cell. less ↑