Soft bodied and range in length from 4 to 50 mm. Cold, unpolluted, fresh water systems contain stoneflies. They are poor fliers and rarely found far from water. In many species the adults do not feed and thus have reduced mouthparts. The adults are the preferred stage as they are more easily collected than the immatures.
Early morning is often the best time to collect adults.
These can be collected by sweeping vegetation along the banks of streams and rivers. Check bridges for resting adults. During the summer, some species can be found at lights. The nymphs can be found in benthic samples. Baumann, R. W. 1987.