A Macroinvertebrate Search

ALDERFLY
AQUATICWORMS
CADDISFLY
CRANEFLY
CRAYFISH
DAMSELFLY
DOBSONFLY
DRAGONFLY
LEECH
MAYFLY
MIDGE
MOSQUITOLARVA
MUSSEL
RIFFLEBEETLE
SALMONFLY
SIDESWIMMER
SNAIL
STONEFLY
WATERPENNY

Macroinvertebrates are a diverse group of animals, ranging from insects and crustaceans to molluscs and worms. They have been around for about 500 million years and some were even living in our waterways before the dinosaurs! Different aquatic macroinvertebrates have different tolerance levels to water pollution. Some water critters are sensitive to pollution, which means if the waterway was to become polluted they will die or move elsewhere. Other critters are tolerant to pollution, meaning they can survive in polluted water. By sampling a waterway for macroinvertebrates and identifying what’s there you will get a good indication of water quality and habitat condition. This word search contains the names of the different kinds of macroinvertebrate one might find in a typical freshwater stream. Good Luck!

Try to find all 19 words on this board.

J X L S D M P S C R C E I H U
Y M C L L A L D E R F L Y G L
N A O O D E M I D G E T R C N
N Y G S F V S S J B M E R R G
E F Y A Q T N S E R P E Y A I
P L V L R U A V U L M B P N H
R Y Y M F P I K G M F E Y E S
E L L O E N L T I A R L X F I
T F F N M A O W O P Y F Y L F
A N E F H J S S B L T F R Y Y
W O N L E E C H B Y A I F P A
T G O Y D G Z D A O F R H B R
J A T I O G H Y Y E D F V O C
L R S M R O W C I T A U Q A D
J D N O Q Y L F S I D D A C V
Brought to you by WordSearchFun.com



Answer Key for A Macroinvertebrate Search

X
Y
123456789101112131415
1# # # # D # # # # # # E # # #
2Y M # # L A L D E R F L Y # #
3N A O # # E M I D G E T # C #
4N Y # S # # S S # # # E R R #
5E F Y A Q # N S E # # E # A #
6P L # L # U A # U L M B # N H
7R Y Y M F # I # # M F E # E S
8E L L O # N L T I # # L # F I
9T F F N # # O W O # # F Y L F
10A N E F # # S S # L # F # Y Y
11W O N L E E C H B # A I # # A
12# G O Y D # # # # O # R # # R
13# A T I # # # # # # D # V # C
14# R S M R O W C I T A U Q A #
15# D # # # Y L F S I D D A C #
Word X Y Direction
ALDERFLY  62e
AQUATICWORMS  1414w
CADDISFLY  1415w
CRANEFLY  143s
CRAYFISH  1513n
DAMSELFLY  51se
DOBSONFLY  1113nw
DRAGONFLY  215n
LEECH  411e
MAYFLY  22s
MIDGE  73e
MOSQUITOLARVA  88se
MUSSEL  107nw
RIFFLEBEETLE  1212n
SALMONFLY  44s
SIDESWIMMER  314ne
SNAIL  74s
STONEFLY  314n
WATERPENNY  111n