Community structure and colonization of madicolous habitats in the mountains of North Carolina and South Carolina

M.A. MacCarroll and P.H. Adler. Department of Entomology, Soil and Plant Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, USA

Eight madicolous sites (i.e., habitats with 2mm or less of water flowing over a substrate) were studied in the mountains of North Carolina and South Carolina. The objectives were to determine the seasonality of the hexapod fauna, the pattern of colonization, and the community structure in relation to selected physical and chemical parameters. Three orders and ten families were identified, the total comprising 70% Diptera. Of the Diptera, Chironomidae and Psychodidae dominated. With each new roadcut or exposure of bedrock, the number of madicolous habitats can increase, providing corridors of dispersal for insects that otherwise inhabit a fairly isolated habitat, possibly increasing genetic homogeneity.