Crustaceans: The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has done many studies of the freshwater crustaceans of Wisconsin. One such study (Torke, 1979) presents crustacean zooplankton data for 190 selected Wisconsin inland lakes sampled in 1973 and 1974. Although the study includes no Crawford County lakes, the report may serve to suggest species that are likely to occur in the area. Taxonomic keys to the copepods of Wisconsin are available to those who would accept the challenge of collecting and identifying the organisms of the oxbow lakes in the study area. 

Joan Jass, of the Milwaukee Public Museum, has studied the fairy shrimp of Wisconsin. At the 6th. annual wetland scientists forum, sponsored by the Wisconsin Wetlands Association, she reported on studies that elaborate three species for the state. No fairy shrimp have yet been found during my studies in this area.

A key to the 11 adult terrestrial isopods thus far documented for Wisconsin can be found in Jass and Klausmeier (1996). I have no data regarding these organisms for Crawford County at this time.

Diplopods: Coming from the southeast part of the state, one cannot but be impressed by the differences in the millipedes of this area. Although I have not located taxonomic keys for these animals, a review of the various species can be found in Watermolen, (1995). In Wisconsin Millipeds: A Preliminary Species List and a Catalog of Records, the author lists 26 species representing 13 families in 6 orders for the state. These numbers are based on reviews of milliped literature and examination of specimens from various museum collections. Crawford County is represented by seven (7) species from six different families. Another two (2) species representing two more families are listed for the general area without specific reference to the county. Ten other species listed as "potential Wisconsin species" because they have been found in neighboring states and have habitat needs likely to occur in Wisconsin were also described in the paper. At this time, given my lack of reliable taxonomic literature, I believe that I have recognized at least two (2) species in the study area. One is Narceus americanus anularis. Recently, I found a specimen that measured a full 10cm. in length and that I believed to be this species. The other is Pleuroloma flavipes. Both of these species, are documented for Crawford County in the Watermolen reference.

Arachnids: Arachnids are plentiful in the study area. To date, no systematic efforts have been made on any of them except the hard ticks (family - Ixodidae). These are both plentiful and bothersome, especially in the spring of the year. Keirans and Litwak (1989) present a pictorial key to the adults of hard ticks east of the Mississippi River. I have used the key to identify adult ticks to the genus Ixodes in the area but have not attempted identification to species. Such identification  would require a very good binocular microscope. A variety of ticks from the area have been preserved for future taxonomic efforts.

Insects: The following is a description of the references that have been found for several categories of both aquatic and terrestrial insects that have attracted attention in the study area. 

Mosquitos (Order - Diptera; Family - Culicidae) are very abundant in the study area, especially early in the spring and during periods following heavy rains. Huge densities of mosquito larvae can be seen in the floodplain soon after the spring thaw. Early attempts to survey the mosquitos of Wisconsin (Dickinson, 1944) do not include records from Crawford County. Taxonomic keys offered by this reference have undoubtedly been improved upon by later publications. Following scares regarding the LaCrosse strain of encephalitis in the mid to late 1970's, the professional health literature became a good source of many illustrated keys to assist health professionals in their efforts to identify Aedes triseriatus, the common vector of the disease. As a temporary health professional with Waukesha County at that time, I became exposed to a variety of such keys -- especially those of Chester J. Stojanovich and Harry Pratt. Studies done by the Division of Allied Health of the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire should be helpful to those interested in Wisconsin mosquito taxonomy.

A variety of publications of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources are helpful for identifying aquatic invertebrates, especially insects, of Wisconsin waters. Aquatic Insects of Wisconsin (Hillsenhoff, 1995) provides taxonomic keys to the genera of aquatic insects of the orders ephemeroptera (mayflies), odonata (dragonflies), plecoptera (stoneflies), tricoptera (caddisflies), megaloptera (alderflies and fishflies), heteroptera (aquatic bugs), lepidoptera (aquatic moths) neuroptera (spongilliflies), coleoptera (aquatic beetles) and diptera (aquatic flies and midges). Keys for both larval and adults are included when these are aquatic forms. The keys are thoroughly illustrated and an extensive glossary is included in the publication although no geographical data are included.

In an earlier publication (Hillsenhoff, 1995b), Using a Biotic Index to Evaluate Water Quality in Streams, the Wisconsin DNR includes keys to the species of 22 genera of aquatic insects that are useful in assessing water quality.

The Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center offers a number of online references that are specific to counties of the various states. The center lists only 10 moth species from 2 families and 16 species of butterflies representing 5 families for Crawford County. Nice photographs of both adult and immature stages of the butterflies and moths are available online. Luckily, more specific literature is available for the butterflies. Swengel (1991), is a handy reference showing the species of butterflies found in southwestern Wisconsin along with their status, occurrence and habitat. It has graphic representations of the seasonal occurrence for each species. The reference lists 111 species for southwestern Wisconsin but does not break the data down by county. To date, without much effort devoted to the group, I have identified 18 butterflies in the study area. The tentative identifications are shown below. The familiar "woolly bear" caterpillar of the Isabella moth (probably Isea isabella) and one of the prominents (possibly Datana ministra), recognized by its habit of holding its tail erect, have been recognized among the moths. At this time no specimens have been collected for more reliable taxonomy. This should be a point of further study.

The dragonflies is another insect group for which there is a good specific reference. Common Dragonflies of Wisconsin (Legler et. al., 1998) is a nicely illustrated reference for identifying these insects as well as a few of Wisconsin's damselflies. The book includes range maps and seasonal distribution graphs as well as useful descriptive material for each species. The authors list 110 species for the state. Examination of the range maps suggests that 34 species have been documented in Crawford County. This includes 6 darners (Family Aeshnidae), 6 clubtails (Family Gomphidae), 1 spiketail (Family Cordulegastridae), 1 cruiser (family Macromiidae) 3 emeralds (Family Corduliidae) and 15 skimmers (Family Libellulidae) among the dragonflies and 2 damselflies. Many of the photographs which illustrate this book are those of David Westover, a nature photographer who has worked with the Wisconsin chapter of the Nature Conservancy. His photographs of Wisconsin dragonflies can be found online at Digital Dragonflies. This website also has many photos of butterflies and damselflies from the Texas area. In addition to this reference, online images of many of the local species can be found at the websites for the Dragonflies and Damselflies of Massachusetts.or the Michigan Odonata Survey. To date, the dot-tailed whitetail (Leucorrhinia intacta), common whitetail (Plathemis lydia), common green darner (Anax junius), band-winged meadowhawk (Sympetrium semicinctum), and ruby meadowhawk (Sympetrium rubicundulum) have been tentatively identified in the study area. Among the damselflies I've recognized the ebony jewelwing (Calopteryx maculata) as well as members of the spreadwing damselflies and bluets.