Raymond Caldwell, age 11, Of Houghton, La.; or his question:

What are stoneflies?

These gauzy winged insects look somewhat like mayflies. And, like the mayflies, they spend their early lives in the water. The mayflies have long pronged tails and the stoneflies do not. Because of this and other differences, scientists classify them in different insect categories.

The eggs of the stonefly hatch in our streams and creeks. The young are small copies of their parents. Insect larvae of this kind are called nymphs. Stonefly nymphs tend to cling to the shady side of wet stones. They grow larger by molting their skins and may take several years to become adults. Sometimes the last molt occurs so early in the spring that the winged adults hatch out in the snow.