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Aquatic insects are essential links in the food web pyramid and serve as one of the main structuring forces for aquatic communities. This study was conducted in the Zaratí River specifically across two sections: one in Sonadora and the other at the Las Mendozas recreational river (balneario), located in the Penonomé District, Coclé Province, Republic of Panama. The objective of the study was to determine the diversity of aquatic insects and the water quality of the Zaratí River. Six field trips were carried from March to August 2024, establishing five sampling stations. At each station, two leaf-litter samples were collected once a month. Additionally, an entomological net with a 1/14-inch mesh size was used. To assess diversity, the Shannon-Wiener, Margalef, and Simpson índices were applied. A total of 15,105 specimens were collected, representing 9 orders, 26 families, 3 subfamilies, and 43 genera. The order Trichoptera was the most abundant, followed by Diptera and Ephemeroptera. Among the most numerous subfamilies were Tanypodinae, Orthocladiinae, and Chironominae. The most abundant genera were Chimarra, Smicridea, and Farrodes. All diversity indices suggest that the Sonadora section of the Zaratí River provides better environmental conditions for aquatic insect diversity than the Las Mendozas recreational river (balneario) section. Furthemore, the BMWP/PAN index results indicate that the Sonadora section has good quality, whereas the Las Mendozas recreational river (balneario) section exhibits fair water quality.
