CREEK CRITTERS: Don’t Be Afraid to Get Bitten by the ‘Creek Critters’ Bug!

Creek Critters v5 screenshotANS released an updated version of our CREEK CRITTERS® app. If you already have the app, please download the latest version. If you don’t have the app, give it a try!

CREEK CRITTERS® is available as a free download from the Apple App Store and Google Play.

You have probably watched adult dragonflies and damselflies darting about and may have spotted adult stoneflies and mayflies flying individually or in swarms near creeks and ponds, but have you ever seen the aquatic larvae of these insects? CREEK CRITTERS guides you toward discovering these and many other fascinating macroinvertebrates. In addition to insect larvae, you may come across snails, clams, aquatic worms, crayfish, scuds, and more.

Damselfly, Casemaker Caddisfly and Dobsonfly Larvae


More importantly, you’ll be able to assess the health of your stream based on your discoveries.
Aquatic macroinvertebrates serve as indicators of stream health because they exhibit varying levels of sensitivity to pollution and changes in their environment. Working with the Creek Critters app, you learn what the critters are telling you. You add your findings to a report which rates stream health on a scale of POOR—FAIR—GOOD—EXCELLENT.

When we talk about creek critters, we are referring to both a nature app and an engagement activity. ANS and other organizations host stream events to introduce people of all ages to the underwater world of macroinvertebrates and to open avenues of communication about local watersheds. The events are fun! How often have you stepped into the shallow riffles of a local stream, found critters, sorted through and identified your findings, and assessed the health of the stream? This is a great opportunity to share stories, perspectives, and concerns about your stream and its connection to your community.

You don’t need to participate in an event with a group to engage. You can search for critters on your own, and with family and friends. The CREEK CRITTERS® app was developed with entry-level users in mind. Through a short series of steps, you learn one method for catching critters using an aquarium net. Visual keys lead you through identifying thirty commonly found critters. Identification screens include line drawings, photos and links to “easily confused with” critters. As you identify critters, you’ll be building a stream health report. No worries if you don’t have a net. Simply pick up submerged rocks and carefully check them for critters. No dishpan or bucket, no problem. Turn a frisbee over, fill it with stream water, and you have a place to hold macroinvertebrates for closer observation.

Various groups, including ANS, conduct rigorous biological surveys and use sophisticated algorithms to assess stream health. ANS has run a volunteer water quality monitoring (“WQM”) program for nearly thirty years. Volunteers with our program receive training on macroinvertebrate identification. Many of our monitors use the CREEK CRITTERS® app to refresh their identification skills and to introduce others to their important community science work.

Getting back to what’s new with the CREEK CRITTERS® app:

  • We improved critter identification by modifying our visual keys based on user feedback and have added lots of new photos.
  • We added order-level identification options for dragonflies, damselflies, mayflies and caddisflies.

ANS is excited about our new partnership with the Izaak Walton League of America to use CREEK CRITTERS® to engage and educate people in our region and beyond! Watch for news about connections to IWLA’s Clean Water Initiatives, including the “Clean Water Hub.” For those already involved in biological monitoring, you’ll find that the app aligns with Izaak Walton League’s “Save Our Stream” data forms.

Next time you come across a group gathered along a stream, step closer to see what they are doing. Maybe they are students conducting a stream study, teachers getting trained, people participating in a field class or bioblitz, watershed stewards taking a break from a stream cleanup. If you’re lucky, they’ll be searching for aquatic macroinvertebrates – and will want to share their discoveries with you. That’s the way it is once you get bit by the creek critters bug!

About Gregg Trilling

Gregg Trilling is ANS' Creek Critters Program Manager. He works with the technical team to maintain and improve ANS' Creek Critters app, and engages groups of families, adults, and children in learning about and checking on the health of their streams.
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