Qualitative collections of aquatic insects were made at Fort Sill, Lawton, Oklahoma, between 2002 and 2004. Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera, Odonata, Coleoptera, aquatic Heteroptera, Neuroptera, and Megaloptera were targeted. Additional records are included from a survey that took place in 1999. More than 11,000 specimens from more than 290 collections were examined. Based on the current understanding of aquatic insect systematics, 276 taxa distributed over 9 orders, 46 families, and 141 genera were identified. Twenty-three of the 276 taxa, Plauditus texanus Wiersema, Tricorythodes allectus (Needham), Palmacorixa nana walleyi Hungerford, Climacia chapini Partin and Gurney, Oxyethira forcipata Mosely, Oxyethira janella Denning, Triaenodes helo Milne, Ylodes frontalis (Banks), Acilius fraternus Harris, Coptotomus loticus Hilsenhoff, Coptotomus venustus (Say), Desmopachria dispersa Crotch, Graphoderus liberus (Say), Hydrovatus pustulatus (Melsheimer), Hygrotus acaroides (LeConte), Liodessus flavicollis (LeConte), Uvarus texanus (Sharp), Gyrinus woodruffi Fall, Haliplus fasciatus Aube, Haliplus lewisii Crotch, Haliplus tortilipenis Brigham & Sanderson, Chaetarthria bicolor Sharp, Epimetopus costatus complex, and Hydrochus simplex LeConte are reported from Oklahoma for the first time. The three most diverse orders included Coleoptera (86 species), Odonata (67 species) and Trichoptera (59 species), and the remaining taxa were distributed among Hetemptera, (30 species), Ephemeroptera (21 species), Plecoptera (6 species), Megaloptera (4 species), and Neuroptera Q species). Based on previous published records, many of the species collected during this study were expected to be found at Fort Sill; however, 276 taxa of aquatic insects identified from such a small geographic area is noteworthy, especially when considering local climatic conditions and the relatively small size of Fort Sill (38,300 ha). Despite agricultural practices in Oklahoma, the dust bowl days, and the development of water-based recreation at Fort Sill, a high percentage of the total known aquatic insect fauna of Oklahoma can be found in a small geographic area.

Insects are usually regarded as almost totally blind to light in the red spectrum and only four insect orders (Odonata, Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera, and Coleoptera) are commonly mentioned as having species with red-light sensitive receptors. Even in these orders, many members, like bees, are thought to see gray or black flowers when humans see red flowers. Red light spectrum emission ranges from wavelengths of approximately 625nm to approximately 700nm. Only infra-red light has longer wavelengths. In contrast, ultraviolet light has far shorter wavelengths. Discovering insect sensitivity to ultraviolet light has been a major accomplishment and the subject of many studies on ultraviolet light's influence on foraging and navigation in certain insects. Perhaps this great difference in wavelengths between red and ultraviolet light created a belief that red light sensitivity could be ignored in insect behavior. This understanding that insects lacked sensitivity to the color red was accepted by many researchers and utilized in designing experiments and for explanations of natural occurrences. For instance it has been hypothesized that the lack of sensitivity to red by insects has resulted in the evolution of red leaves in the fall and to the selection of year-round red leaves in a few plant species, thus providing the leaves with a type of invisibility as a protection from invasive insects. Also assumptions have been made that studies on insects using a red light filter or a red light are the