Page 33 - March/April 2020 - Outdoor Oklahoma

Rare Species, Complex
Challenges CourTeSY SWoSu
In 2017, sur vey teams from
Southwestern Oklahoma State University
and the University of Oklahoma set out
to learn more about our state’s diverse
collection of mayflies and caddisflies,
aquatic insects that are a major part of
the food chain. Though they did not dis-
cover the primary target, the rare three-
toothed triaenodes caddisfly, they were
able to update where many species can
be found.
“This project is a great example of how
difficult and complex it can be to col-
lect and identify rare aquatic insects,”
Research Supervisor Kurt Kuklinski said.
“The small size and rarity of the target
insects presented a distinct challenge.
Beyond that, these species are incredi-
bly similar to one another and can only
be identified by very complex anatomi-
cal features, which is a completely dif-
ferent challenge.”
This project was funded in part by
ODWC’s State Wildlife Grants Program
Grant F16AF01215, SWOSU and OU.

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