(Public) What Am I? Benthic Macroinvertebrate Identification Activity
As you read through the questions refer to the two images below to help you understand the location and naming of the body features listed in each question. Please note that not all the features will be shown on the images so be sure to read through the glossary terms for a comprehensive list and refer to the BMI identification resources provided. Scroll all the way to the end of the quiz to access the glossary. Please submit the activity once you have completed all 27 questions.

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Understanding invertebrate Anatomy and Bilateral Symmetry
1. I’m mottled greyish-brown to black and you’ll find me creeping slowly along the bottom of the stream. Look carefully and you will notice my distinct triangular-like head with two white eye spots. What am I? *
1 point
2. I have a round, soft body with segmented sections. You may think I am similar to a worm you would find in your garden. I crawl along in streams and often curl up. I can appear pinkish or brown in colour. What am I? *
1 point
3. I have six pairs of legs, and two pairs of equal length antennae. You will find that I swim on my side and my body is laterally compressed. I can appear light grey or brown and sometimes even bright pink! What am I? *
1 point
4. I am a clear organism with flowing tentacles. You will find that I am fixed to objects in the stream and am able to reproduce asexually by budding. What am I? *
1 point
5. I have a very slender segmented body that’s pointed at both ends with a sclerotized head.  I move about in whip-like motions but stiffen when touched. I can appear in various colours. What am I? *
1 point
6. I have a segmented body with suckers on both ends which I use to inch along the streambed. I can appear in many colours and am known to be tolerant of poor water quality. What am I? *
1 point
7. I have seven pairs of legs and one antennae longer than the other. I crawl along the river bottom and appear greyish-brown in colour. My terrestrial cousin is the potato bug and we look quite similar.  I am tolerant of poor water quality conditions. What am I? *
1 point
8. I live inside a hard oval shell held together by a hinge and am somewhat tolerant of poor water quality conditions. What am I? *
1 point
9. I can appear green, brown or even blue. I like to swim backwards and have large claws. People have often confused me with a lobster. I am somewhat tolerant of water pollution. What am I? *
1 point
10. I have eight legs and a round body. I am classified in the same class as spiders, the Arachnida. My movements can appear uncoordinated and I can be brightly coloured. I am somewhat tolerant of water pollution. What am I? *
1 point
11. I have a single tarsal claw, gills under the abdomen and three tail filaments. I swim up and down in an “S” pattern and appear usually brown in colour. I am sensitive to poor water quality conditions. What am I? *
1 point
12. I have a large head and large eyes and appear brownish green in colour. In my adult stage I can be very colourful ranging from vibrant blues to emerald greens and I grow a large pair of wings to fly around near bodies of water in the warm summer months. I use a modified labium (mouth part) for catching my prey. What am I? *
1 point
13. I have compound eyes, a tubular, thin body and three gills at the end of my abdomen. I move quite slowly and am tolerant of poor water quality conditions. What am I? *
1 point
14. I have two tarsal claws, no gills on my abdomen and two tail filaments. I am the most sensitive benthic macroinvertebrate to poor water quality conditions. What am I? *
1 point
15. I have three pairs of soft, folded wings and a soft body. I appear blackish to brownish and when I swim I often skim the water surface. What am I? *
1 point
16. I have three pairs of legs and many lateral abdominal gill filaments. I catch prey with my well-developed mandibles and I am sensitive to poor water quality conditions. What am I? *
1 point
17. I am often found in cases that I have made myself. I am often cream coloured and have prolegs with hooks as well as dorsal thoracic plates that are sclerotized and I am sensitive to poor water quality conditions. What am I? *
1 point
18. I crawl like a caterpillar and have three pairs of short, segmented thoracic legs. Around my head is a ring of ocelli (single eyes). What am I? *
1 point
19. I have three pairs of segmented legs, hardened forewings in my adult stage and when in my larval stage I have a sclerotized head with mandibles for catching prey. I can appear black and brown in colour. What am I? *
1 point
20. I have a hard spiral shell that varies in colour and am tolerant of poor water quality conditions. What am I? *
1 point
21. I have a characteristic “J” shape and move about in a whip-like manner. I can be various colours including red, white or yellow. I have anterior and posterior parapods and am tolerant of poor water quality conditions. What am I? *
1 point
22. I am pointed at both ends of my segmented body and have several pairs of creeping welts with hooks on each segment. I can appear cream coloured or white and am somewhat tolerant of poor water quality conditions. What am I? *
1 point
23. I have fused thoracic segments and appear brown in colour. I like to be near standing water and people often find that I annoy them in the summer by buzzing around and biting a host for the blood meal needed to reproduce eggs. I am somewhat tolerant of poor water quality and at my posterior (end of body) end I have a respiratory siphon on it that serves as a breathing tube. What am I? *
1 point
24.  I have a non-segmented body with a pointed tail and tapered head.  I move around in rapid, whip-like motions. I am often clear in colour. What am I? *
1 point
25. I have a head that can be retracted into my thorax and a posterior respiratory disc with lobes. I move around in a worm-like manner and can appear white, yellow or brown in colour and I am sensitive to poor water quality conditions.  What am I? *
1 point
26. I have a fattened posterior at one end of my body and the other end has a pair of labral fans. I have been described as being shaped like a bowling pin and can appear greyish brown in colour. I am somewhat tolerant of poor water quality conditions. What am I? *
1 point
27. In my adult form I have a single pair of wings and in my larval form I have no jointed thoracic legs, and I may have parapods, pseudopodia (fake feet-like appendages), or creeping welts and other appendages. I can be various sizes and colours and move in various ways. What am I? *
1 point
Glossary of Terms
Abdomen- Invertebrates, the abdomen generally pertains to the segment of their body after the thorax. It usually contains the digestive and reproductive structures

Antenna - either of a pair of long, thin sensory appendages on the heads of insects, crustaceans, and some other arthropods.

Anterior - nearer the front, especially situated in the front of the body or nearer to the head.

Appendage- a part of an insect and/or living thing that sticks out and has a certain function.

Compound Eye- an eye made up of several parts that work independently. Common for most insects.

Creeping Welts- raised marks and/or bumps on an insect

Dorsal - of, on, or relating to the upper side or back of an animal, plant, or organ.

Dorsoventrally Compressed - Flattened from top to bottom

Fused Thorax - a condition in which invertebrates will join their head and thorax together to form a single body part or entity.  

Gill - structures used by invertebrates for respiration, commonly found beneath or along the abdomen

Laterally Compressed - Flattened from side to side

Mandibles- the jaw or a jawbone, especially the lower jawbone in mammals and fishes

Parapods/Parapodia- paired, unjointed appendages used for movement and/or reparation.

Posterior - further back in position; of or nearer the rear or hind end, especially of the body or a part of it.

Prolegs - a fleshy abdominal limb of an insect larva.

Pseudopodia- fake feet-like appendages that are temporary.

Respiratory Disc - a posterior appendage found on crane flies that aid with breathing

Respiratory Siphon- a tube like appendage found on mosquitos that aid wit breathing

Sclerotized - A hardened part of an insect’s body that forms from a structural protein

Segmented - divided up into similar repetitive sections. Often seen in worms.

Tapered- To gradually become narrower. For example the worm’s tail tapered to a rounded tip.

Tarsal Claw - The final segment in the leg of an insect is the tarsus, it may contain claws

Thorax (thoracic) - In insects the thorax is the middle of the three major divisions of the body.

Ventral - of, on, or relating to the underside of an animal or plant; abdominal.
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