The use of aquatic macroinvertebrates to assess water quality has been growing during the last 50 years in Colombia. We conducted a systematic review of 109 references to analyze scientific production related to the evaluation of water quality in Colombian freshwater ecosystems, using aquatic macroinvertebrates. We describe bibliographical, geographical, ecological, and methodological characteristics of these studies. In the last two decades, there was an increase of more than 50% of publications. The Andean region was the most studied, while the other regions had few research. Lotic ecosystems were widely studied, unlike the lentic ones. The main land use management was agricultural. BMWP and diversity indices were the most used in the analyses. Further research is necessary in lentic ecosystems since they are being severely impacted by anthropogenic pressures, but were not assessed yet. Different regions that harbor diverse aquatic ecosystems (e.g. Amazon, Orinoquia) have been little studied. There is a critical need to revisit traditional indices, aiming at avoiding wrong assumptions about the relation between aquatic macroinvertebrates communities and water quality. For this purpose, it is recommended that assumptions and conditions required for using the indices, high taxonomic resolution, and new approaches, such as effective number of species, are taken into account.

Homoeoneuria Eaton, 1881 is a genus of the Oligoneuriidae family whose geographical distribution remains poorly documented, especially in the Northern region of South America. Here we confirm the record of Homoeoneuria inColombia, thus extending its distribution in South America beyond the records from Brazil, Peru, and Argentina. The confirmation was done on three nymphs from the department of Cesar found on sandy-silt sediments in the transition between the Andean and Caribbean regions.

Bioindication is a method to assess environmental conditions using indicator organisms. In Colombia, water quality evaluation is mostly performed following the Biological Monitoring Working Party/Colombia method (BMWP/Col), which uses aquatic macroinvertebrates at the taxonomic family level. Studies on potential bioindicators are important to produce comprehensive information on the requirements of macroinvertebrates and their value for water quality bioindication. We studied the larval ecology of several common genera of Odonata from Colombian freshwater ecosystems and assigned an indicator value to each genus. The physical and chemical water characteristics of 1,022 sites surveyed in Colombia from 2005 to 2016 were analyzed using a principal component analysis (PCA). The relationship between environmental conditions and Odonata genera found was studied using multiple logistic regressions between sample coordinates of the first three axes of the PCA and occurrence of the respective genus. We assigned an indicator value for each genus using the logistic regression and the water quality of samples. The highest indicator values were assigned to genera, which were mainly explained by the PCA axis associated with water quality, showed a high odds ratio to this axis, and were found in ecosystems with excellent water quality. The indicator values suggested for each taxon are, Brechmorhoga Kirby, 1894, 8; Macrothemis Hagen, 1868, 4; Micrathyria Kirby, 1889, 4 (Libellulidae); Progomphus Selys, 1854, 7 (Gomphidae); Acanthagrion Selys, 1876, 4; and Argia Rambur, 1842, 7 (Coenagrionidae). Differences in water quality preferences in genera of the same family suggest that higher taxonomic resolution may allow more detailed environmental assessments.