The Taxonomy of Stream Bugs

Benthic macroinvertebrates are categorized according to their taxonomic group. The chart below illustrates the taxonomic order of some common benthic macroinvertebrates This is by no means a complete taxonomic chart; there are 30 to 35 additional phyla (including Chordata, which is ours). Nor is this even a complete macroinvertebrate chart; the orders and classes represented here focus on the macroinvertebrates that live in streams in the Pacific Northwest.

Animal Kingdom
Annelids (Phylum Annelida)	Arthropods (Phylum Arthropoda)	MolluscsPhylum Mollusca)
Leeches (Class Hirudinea) & Segmented worms (Class Oligochaeta)		Snails (Class Gastropoda) & Clams and Mussels (Class Bivalvia)
Insects (Class Insecta) Mayflies (Order Ephemeroptera) Stoneflies (Order Plecoptera) Caddisflies (Order Trichoptera) Dragonflies (Order Odonata) Riffle Beetles (Order Coleoptera) Crane Flies, Black Flies, & other true flies (Order Diptera) Water Striders & other true bugs (Order Hemiptera)	Crustaceans (Class Crustacea) Aquatic Pill Bugs (Order Isopoda) Scuds (Order Amphipoda) Crayfish (Order Decapoda)	2-5 other Classes depending on the classification scheme... For example, some scientists divide arthropods into the extant Subphylums Crustacea, Uniramia, & Chelicerata before further dividing them into Classes and Orders

For questions about information on this page, please contact Deborah Lester, Risk Assessment Lead, or Jo Wilhelm, Environmental Scientist.