A picnic where the bugs are welcome

The public picnicked alongside an assortment of aquatic insects and fish that joined the festivities at the Delaware Highlands Conservancy’s annual Meadow Party held in Milanville, PA on August 18. The party’s purpose is partly focused on providing education about the animals and plants that live in the Upper Delaware Region.

Don Hamilton, natural resource specialist with the National Park Service’s Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River, delivered educational talks about eels and other fish that he had collected from the nearby Delaware River and had displayed in a large fish tank in the meadow.

Hamilton also waded into the waters to gather helgrammites, beetles and other forms of aquatic insect life. He brought them to shore to give partygoers a peek at the seldom-seen life forms that are entwined with the health of the water and its ecosystem.

Hamilton explained that aquatic insects provide a reliable means of measuring water quality. Based upon the presence of sensitive “indicator species” which disappear as water quality diminishes, Hamilton pronounced the water sample to be healthy.