order
                        
                      
                                    Coleoptera
                                       “Adult Beetles”
                                  
                                    Coleoptera
                                       “Larval Beetles”
                                  
                                    Diptera
                                       “True Flies”
                                  
                                    Ephemeroptera
                                       “Mayflies”
                                  
                                    Hemiptera
                                       “True Bugs”
                                  
                                    Lepidoptera
                                       “Aquatic Caterpillars, Snout Moths”
                                  
                                    Megaloptera
                                       “Alderflies, Dobsonflies, and Fishflies”
                                  
                                    Odonata
                                       “Dragonflies and Damselflies”
                                  
                                    Plecoptera
                                       “Stoneflies”
                                  
                                    Trichoptera
                                       “Caddisflies”
                                 
               “Crawling Water Beetle Larvae”
            
      Family Overview
                  
               
                           Haliplidae
                               
                              
                        
                            
                              
                        Crawling Water Beetle Larvae
                     
                        This family includes over 70 North American species. Both the larvae and adults of this family are aquatic. They can be found in lentic-littoral or lotic-depositional habitats. They are good climbers among the rooted plants found in their habitats. Adults can be strong swimmers as well. Both life stages have similar feeding habits; they tend to be shredding or piercing herbivores, but some are engulfing predators. The larvae sometimes overwinter in moist soil before molting into pupae and then adults. The adults must frequently resurface for air; however, the larvae get all of their oxygen from the water.
                  
               Characteristics
                  
               POLLUTION TOLERANCE
                        Mid-Atlantic: 5 and higher
                                 Midwest: 7 and higher
                                 Southeast: 8.5 and higher
                              0 = least tolerant, 10 = most tolerant
                        FEEDING HABITS
                        
                                 Engulfer / Predator
Piercer / Herbivore
Shredder / Herbivore
                        
                     Piercer / Herbivore
Shredder / Herbivore
MOVEMENT
                        
                                 Climber
Clinger
                        
                     Clinger
Diagnostic Characters
               order
                      
                                       
                                    Eye Spots
                                  
                                       
                                    Lateral Gills USUALLY Absent
                                  
                                       
                                    USUALLY 4-5-Segmented Legs
                                 family
                         
                                       
                                    5-Segmented Legs + Claw
                                  
                                       
                                    Dorsal Projections
                                 
                  + Expanded Character List
                  
                     
               
            
                        Order:
                           Larvae: Usually without lateral abdominal gills. If gills present, then 4 hooks clustered on segment 10. Thoracic legs each usually with 4 or 5 segments and with 1 or 2 claws; if without legs, head distinctly sclerotized and posterior body (thorax and abdomen) simple, without gills, hair brushes, suckers, or breathing tube. Eye spots usually present, but compound eyes absent.
                     
                     
                        Family:
                           Mandibles with groove along the internal margin. Legs 5-segmented and with single claw. Mature larvae usually with long, slender, stiff, needle-like dorsal projections from thoracic and abdominal segments. Abdomen 9–10 segmented; hooks absent from terminal segments.
                     
                  Lateral
               



