ALT - Agreed Level Taxonomy uses features that are visible to the naked eye to identify macroinvertebrates.  The animals are identified alive rather than being preserved. This means that features which are lost in ethanol preservation -like colour and movement - can be used to identify the animals. ALT identifications result in data sets of mixed taxonomic levels, some at genus or species, and others at higher levels. This ALT Order key provides a higher level breakdown of the waterbugs you are likely to encounter.