Larvae of Chaoborus species are voracious predators of zooplankton in aquatic ecosystems, capable of altering the species composition and size structure. To estimate the impact of Chaoborus larvae on zooplankton in Campus Lake, Jackson Co. IL, a 24-hour field survey and a controlled predation experiment in the laboratory were conducted. Specifically, the hypothesis tested was that Chaoborus larvae select Daphnia over copepods, two zooplankton taxa on which the larvae are known to feed and which occur in Campus Lake.

The tropical forest canopy is a unique ecosystem with complex environmental interactions, which allows for a high level specialization of insects. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether in creased species specialization has created species variation between nocturnal and diurnal canopy insects. Insects were collected from six trees using suspended traps containing three types of bait (carrion, rotten fruit, and scents).