Samples were taken in an intermittent stream (dries only at some locations) and a permanent stream in a single watershed in Tompkins County, New York, [USA] over a 3-yr period to compare the life history patterns of specialist species (occurring primarily in intermittent streams), facultative species (occurring in both permanent and intermittent streams) and permanent-stream species (occurring primarily in permanent habitats). We also tested the hypothesis that to avoid the dry period, populations of species grow and develop faster and emerge earlier in the intermittent than in the permanent stream. Specialist species emerged by mid-June, whereas permanent-stream species had late summer emergences. Although two of the three specialist species (Amphinemura delosa and Ameletus ludens) had drought-resistant eggs, the third (Paracapnia opis) had immediately hatching eggs. Nymphs of this last species survived the dry period either in the hyporheic zone or in riffles that did not dry. Only one of two facultative species and one specialist species showed greater size and/or advanced development in sites that dried compared with populations in permanent sites; however, these differences occurred only in early spring and had disappeared long before the stream dried. Thus, populations of the same species emerged at the same time from the intermittent and permanent streams. At any one time, individuals of specialist and permanent-stream species were usually larger and/or more developed in the stream or at sites where they were most abundant. Although each specialist species had left history patterns enabling it to survive drought, these patterns were not unique to the intermittent-stream fauna. In addition, species without those characteristics were also present in the stream, and species with populations in both permanent and intermittent streams did not show site-specific variation in life history patterns consistent with drought-avoidance in intermittent streams.