Use of Chironomidae (Diptera) Surface-Floating Pupal Exuviae as a Rapid Bioassessment Protocol for Water Bodies

The overall goal of this procedure is to describe the techniques for collecting and processing chiro nominee, surface floating pupil ex samples for water quality assessment. This is accomplished by first collecting field samples of Chiron pupil ex from aquatic environments. In the second step, a subs sample of 300 specimens is picked from each field sample, and the samples are separated into distinct morphological groups.

In the final step, multiple representatives from each group are mounted onto glass microscope slides. Ultimately, the specimens are identified to genus or species to evaluate the water quality conditions. The main advantage of this technique over existing methods such as traditional benthic macro invertebrate sampling, is that collecting and processing the samples is efficient, economical, and applicable in nearly all aquatic environments.