“Most days in life don’t stand out, but life’s about those days that will.”
- Eric Church, Talladega
“Be careful, this can be addicting!” were my college professor’s warning words as I headed out on my first insect collecting trip. “I’m just fulfilling credit requirements” I thought in my head. Boy was I wrong and he right.
That day, a whole new world opened up to me. One swipe of the insect net in the forest yielded hundreds of insects of different shapes and sizes. Taking them back to the lab I discovered books upon books that guide identification to every intricate detail – antenna length and shape, body colors, wing shapes, and it’s all documented and named! So began my journey to becoming an Entomologist (the study of insects).
After college, I got side-tracked a bit, as twenty-somethings do. Had a brief foray into marine mammal training at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago (a story for another day). But in the back of my mind the lakes of Minnesota were calling me back home.
Back in Minnesota, I applied to the University of Minnesota to begin a masters degree program. I visited potential graduate advisors, and that is when I met Dr. Len Ferrington, an aquatic entomologist. As I sat at his desk in Hodson Hall that day, he talked all about aquatic insects and their roles in lakes and streams. A lightning bolt struck – connecting insects with lakes and water quality – a perfect profession! I count that day as the beginning of my career.
Over the next three years, I proceeded to learn the names and identifying features of all types of aquatic insects and how they can indicate water quality.
Many aquatic insects spend the majority of their lives as larvae or nymphs underwater. They eat algae, plants, and detritus at the bottom of the lake – nature’s cleaning crew. They’re also food for fish and other aquatic creatures. Then in spring they emerge from the water and molt into adults. They all seem to come out of the lake in their own coordinated batches, which one of my friends on Pelican Lake likes to call “the bug of the week”. Each species emerges at the same time to maximize their mate-finding potential, like a night out at the club.
If you live near a lake you may notice a different swarm of bugs each week. Each of these has its role in and out of the lake.
First come the dragonflies in their shiny metallics. Voraciously living up to their names and eating other bugs on the wing, including mosquitoes.
Then come the midges, which look like little gnats with fuzzy antennae (they don’t bite!). They form large swarms by the lake, looking for mates. These swarms are also easy pickings for dragonflies, birds, and fish to eat.
Swarms of midges seen in lakefront communities. Credit: Provided/Wikimedia Commons
Next come the caddisflies, who have long wings hanging over their backs like sails and long thread-like antennae. When they are larvae in the lake, they build little houses out of stones or sticks for protection from predators.
The bug of the week can be a nuisance, but most of them do not bite. If we didn’t have them, we would not have the fish, birds, and frogs enhancing our lake experience.
Dr. Ferrington passed away a few years ago. But I think of him when I see a swarm of midges. I smile and thank him for setting me on my career path 20 years ago, translating my love of lakes into my chosen profession.
Moriya Rufer is a lake biologist with 20 years experience working with and loving lakes in northern Minnesota.
Illustration by Moriya Rufer
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