Aquatic insects of New York salt marsh associated with mosquito larval habitat and their potential utility as bioindicators
1Division of Vector Control, Suffolk County Department of Public Works, 335 Yaphank Avenue, Yaphank, NY
11980-9744, USA
2Suffolk County Department of Environment and Energy, 335 Yaphank Avenue, Yaphank, NY 11980-9744, USA
Abstract
The aquatic insect fauna of salt marshes is poorly characterized, with the possible exception of biting Diptera. Aquatic insects play a vital role in salt marsh ecology, and have great potential importance as biological indicators for assessing marsh health. In addition, they may be impacted by measures to control mosquitoes such as changes to the marsh habitat, altered hydrology, or the application of pesticides. Given these concerns, the goals of this study were to conduct the first taxonomic survey of salt marsh aquatic insects on Long Island, New York, USA and to evaluate their utility for non-target pesticide impacts and environmental biomonitoring. A total of 18 species from 11 families and five orders were collected repeatedly during the five month study period. Diptera was the most diverse order with nine species from four families, followed by Coleoptera with four species from two families, Heteroptera with three species from three families, then Odonata and the hexapod Collembola with one species each. Water boatmen, Trichocorixa verticalis Fieber (Heteroptera: Corixidae) and a shore fly, Ephydra subopaca Loew (Diptera: Ephydridae), were the two most commonly encountered species. An additional six species; Anurida maritima Guérin-Méneville (Collembola: Neanuridae), Mesovelia mulsanti White (Heteroptera: Mesovelidae), Enochrus hamiltoni Horn (Coleoptera: Hydrophilidae), Tropisternus quadristriatus Horn (Coleoptera: Hydrophilidae), Dasyhelea pseudocincta Waugh and Wirth (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae), and Brachydeutera argentata Walker (Diptera: Ephydridae), were found regularly. Together with the less common Erythrodiplax berenice Drury (Odonata: Libellulidae), these nine species were identified as the most suitable candidates for pesticide and environmental impact monitoring due to abundance, position in the food chain, and extended seasonal occurrence. This study represents a first step towards developing an insectbased index of biological integrity for salt marsh health assessment.
Keywords: aquatic community, biological assessment, Bti, environmental impact, food web methoprene
Abbreviations: Bti, Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis; IBI, index of biological integrity; IMM, integrated marsh management
Correspondence:
a* ilia.rochlin@suffolkcountyny.gov, *Corresponding author
Received: 19 May 2010 | Accepted: 17 September 2010 | Published: 19 December 2011
Copyright: This is an open access paper. We use the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license that permits unrestricted use, provided that the paper is properly attributed.
ISSN: 1536-2442 | Volume 11, Number 172
Rochlin I, Dempsey ME, Iwanejko T, Ninivaggi DV. 2011. Aquatic insects of New York salt marsh associated with mosquito larval habitat and their potential utility as bioindicators. Journal of Insect Science 11:172 available online: insectscience.org/11.172
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