Description
Aquatic Insects is an international journal publishing original research on the systematics, biology, and ecology of aquatic and semi-aquatic insects. The subject of the research is aquatic and semi-aquatic insects, comprising taxa of four primary orders, the Ephemeroptera, Odonata, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera but also aquatic and semi-aquatic families of Hemiptera, Coleoptera, and Diptera, as well as specific representatives of Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera, Mecoptera, Megaloptera, and Neuroptera that occur in lotic and lentic habitats during part of their life cycle. Studies on other aquatic Hexapoda (i.e., Collembola) will be only accepted if space permits. Papers on other aquatic Arthropoda (e.g., Crustacea) will not be considered, except for those closely related to aquatic and semi-aquatic insects (e.g., water mites as insect parasites). The topic of the research may include a wide range of biological fields. Taxonomic revisions and descriptions of individual species will be accepted especially if additional information is included on habitat preferences, species co-existing, behavior, phenology, collecting methods, etc., that are of general interest to an international readership. Descriptions based on single specimens are discouraged. Detailed studies on morphology, physiology, behavior, and phenology of aquatic insects in all stadia of their life cycle are welcome as well as the papers with molecular and phylogenetic analyses, especially if they discuss evolutionary processes of the biological, ecological, and faunistic formation of the group. In all kinds of freshwater environments, aquatic insects are usually the largest and most diverse group of organisms, by species and abundance, and are of paramount importance to the community structure and function, as well as serving as ecological indicators. Therefore, papers on different aspects of aquatic and semi-aquatic insect ecology will be considered, except for those that focus on applied aspects of environmental assessment (e.g., water quality). Papers that include autecological or synecological data will be preferred. Purely faunistic studies and other papers of only regional interest will not be considered. To increase communication and information flow among the aquatic insect specialists, book reviews and obituaries will also be published. All submitted manuscripts are subject to initial appraisal by the Editor, and, if found suitable for further consideration, to peer review by independent, anonymous expert referees. All peer review is single anonymized.
