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.

A I X Y L F L E S M A D J Z G
M A Q U A T I C W O R M S Y U
A I V W D Q E G I K Q H I L C
D D W R K M Y G G E S Y D F R
R O A I A M U L D I U L E S A
A B T F P L X S F I R F S I N
G S E F Z H O Y S Y M N W D E
O O R L C O A T W E A O I D F
N N P E H R S F I I L M M A L
F F E B C M F T L U Q L M C Y
L L N E U Y D Z M S Q A E S I
Y Y N E Y L F E N O T S R L Q
M R Y T S C M R A P X B O H E
R U Y L F R E D L A P O T M M
K F Z E Q U O Z J R N R D I J
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Answer Key for A Macroinvertebrate Search

X
Y
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1# # # Y L F L E S M A D # # #
2# A Q U A T I C W O R M S Y #
3# # V # # # E # # # # H I L C
4D D W R # M Y G # # S Y D F R
5R O A I A # U L D I # L E S A
6A B T F # L # S F I # F S I N
7G S E F # H O Y S Y M N W D E
8O O R L C # A T # E A O I D F
9N N P E # R # # I I L M M A L
10F F E B C # # # L U # L M C Y
11L L N E # # # # # # Q A E # #
12Y Y N E Y L F E N O T S R # #
13# # Y T # # # # # # # # O # #
14# # Y L F R E D L A # # # M #
15# # # E # # # # # # # # # # #
Word X Y Direction
ALDERFLY  1014w
AQUATICWORMS  22e
CADDISFLY  1410n
CRANEFLY  153s
CRAYFISH  510ne
DAMSELFLY  121w
DOBSONFLY  24s
DRAGONFLY  14s
LEECH  211ne
MAYFLY  129nw
MIDGE  117nw
MOSQUITOLARVA  88nw
MUSSEL  64se
RIFFLEBEETLE  44s
SALMONFLY  1212n
SIDESWIMMER  132s
SNAIL  136sw
STONEFLY  1212w
WATERPENNY  34s