The temporal distribution of populations of aquatic macroinvertebrates
have been extensively investigated in temperate arctic regions, but l
ittle information is available for alpine regions in North America. Th
is paper describes phenology patterns of the aquatic macroinvertebrate
s of a high elevation wetland (3593 m) in the Green Lakes Valley, Colo
rado Front Range. Abundant taxa were Chironomidae (primarily Orthoclad
ius and the limnephilid trichopteran Asynarchus curtus (Banks). Temper
ature patterns were related to the seasonal timing of life stages of m
ost species. Phenology of most alpine aquatic macroinvertebrates appea
rs to be controlled by seasonal climatic patterns, particularly temper
ature patterns. All chironomid species and Asynarchus curtus (Banks) h
ad univoltine life cycles. Multi-year life cycles were not observed at
this alpine site, although they have been observed at some arctic sit
es with colder temperature regimes than observed in this study.