“Dagger Flies”
Genus Overview
The tip of the head is visible but is mostly reduced to a pair of slender rods retracted into the thorax; the mouth hooks (mandibles) move up and down parallel to one another; the body is cylindrical; there are usually four hairy lobes and no spiracles at the end of the abdomen and each of the abdominal segments has a pair of fleshy ventral prolegs with tiny apical hooks; if spiracles are present and only a single lobe is at the end of the body, then the abdominal segments lack prolegs but instead have transverse ventral creeping welts.
Characteristics
POLLUTION TOLERANCE
Mid-Atlantic: 6 and higher
0 = least tolerant, 10 = most tolerant
FEEDING HABITS
Piercer / Predator
MOVEMENT
Burrower
Sprawler
Sprawler
DISTRIBUTION
Widespread (east of the Rocky Mtns.)
HABITAT
Lotic-depositional
Lotic-erosional
Lotic-erosional
Diagnostic Characters
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