Caryl Posted February 9, 2005 Report Share Posted February 9, 2005 Anyone know what these are? It has been suggested they might be dragonfly larvae. They are about 1 - 2cm long and glide along the bottom of the pond, up the sides and out of the water. They also swim at midlevel. They can also climb up the sides of nets and plastic containers! You can compare their size to the mozzie larvae at the top and the daphnia around it. I need to know should I be trying to get them out of the pond in case they eat fish fry? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phillz Posted February 9, 2005 Report Share Posted February 9, 2005 I have caught similar buggy things in a near by pond....and I thought they were dragonfly larvae Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staplez Posted February 9, 2005 Report Share Posted February 9, 2005 Yes that is Dragonfly larvae. I don't know if they would be any harm to fry but they do keep karp happy at a friends pond. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spooky Posted February 9, 2005 Report Share Posted February 9, 2005 If my memory is correct then they are reasonably aggressive predators. This memory is rather old and of something I read in a book as opposed to personally observed, so its accuracy is questionable. Leave it in that container you photographed it in. If, after a while, all the daphnia are gone and it looks plumper then that might give you an indication of its intentions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staplez Posted February 9, 2005 Report Share Posted February 9, 2005 At a guess I would say they they could eat fry, I think I've heard of them eating mosquito larvae. But don't quote me on that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vjarn Posted February 9, 2005 Report Share Posted February 9, 2005 if my memory serves me well from my freshwater ecology paper, its not a mayfly and its not a caddis fly. so my theory is that it is a stone fly, they are used as indicators to establish the health of the streams. if they're in there then its a good sign you pond is healthy and clean. they are no threat to fry and in fact they are a good source of nutrition. you can find more about them here http://www.waitakere.govt.nz under macroinvertebrates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted February 9, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2005 Thanks for the link Vjarn but I don't think any of the critters in their pics match mine :-? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Posted February 9, 2005 Report Share Posted February 9, 2005 Let's get it straight guys. With pincers like that in the front they are SUPER danerous to fry and when larger small fish. KILL ON SIGHT They are not cute little bug thingies. Alan 104 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staplez Posted February 9, 2005 Report Share Posted February 9, 2005 Yeah thats why I'm guessing predator. Those pincers aren't made for eating alge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted February 9, 2005 Report Share Posted February 9, 2005 That's funny, I threw one that was maybe 2 inches long into a tank with about 2 dozen tetras and a puffer and he was eaten in about 10 seconds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted February 9, 2005 Report Share Posted February 9, 2005 I don't have any puffers any more. I had 2 brazilian puffers. One just died, the other was killed in a power outage. Trying to get some more though, we have TONS of snails for them to eat, just can't seem to find any. Anyone happen to know of somewhere with some brazilian or figure 8 puffers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted February 9, 2005 Report Share Posted February 9, 2005 They had brazilians a month or so ago, but they were covered with whitespot. Same for ones at Wet Pets around the same time. So, obviously a shipment came in, but they were sick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted February 9, 2005 Report Share Posted February 9, 2005 The LFS people are the last ones you want to trust. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petplanet Posted February 9, 2005 Report Share Posted February 9, 2005 If you think this will eat fry, wait till the puffer hits the water - eating machines. Very partial to tails. I have three Red Eye Puffers in a plant tank. Very shy but great snail and guppy fry control. Only the super fit survive! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted February 9, 2005 Report Share Posted February 9, 2005 My brazilians never nipped any tails. Red Eyed puffers are supposed to be the worst. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morf Posted February 9, 2005 Report Share Posted February 9, 2005 they are definately dragon fly larvae they are predatory machines and will kill surprisingly large fry/fish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted February 9, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2005 OK, I do believe Sunday will be spent trying to kill as many as possible. Am working today (great having Jetstream at work too) and Friday working at the wine festival all day Saturday. Oh damn, have an MX5 run on Sunday hmmm might have to be Monday's job. :roll: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Posted February 9, 2005 Report Share Posted February 9, 2005 The larvae in Caryl's pics are definitely NOT dragonfly or damselfly larvae. The image is of the larvae of a diving beetle, most likely the Cosmopolitan diving beetle (Rhantus suturalis). A dragonfly larvae would be twice the size and have the large side mounted eyes that adult dragonflies have. Also dragonfly larvae do not have any 'tails'. Damselfly larvae are about the same size as Caryl's critter but again would have the large side mounted eyes that the adults have and would have 3 'tails' rather than two. Regarding the suggestion of a stonefly - though they do also have 2 'tails' they have long antenae, not the short ones Caryl's critter has. The diving beetle and it's larvae are both predators so you'd still want to get rid of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted February 10, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2005 Thanks for that Rob. We do have little black beetles that dive straight down in the pond and are very difficult to catch! We will make a concerted attempt to catch them all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vjarn Posted February 10, 2005 Report Share Posted February 10, 2005 sorry rob but i have to disagree , mayflies have three tails and there are so many species in the genus family that they havent been all named yet, a good friend on mine studies macroinvertabrates and i have aided him at auckland uni of tech, its definately a stonefly because of the two tails. infact if you call waitakere city council they will give you a free booklet on them. there are many types of stoneflies, and they all look very different but they are defined by their two tails as mayflies are defined with there 3 tails. some are herbivourous and some carnivourous but they will definately not eat a guppy fry. try niwa's or doc's website, im sure they will have more about them. oh and carryl, my suggestion is not to bother catching them because my guess is they will do no harm, plus they will keep coming back because your pond is so healthy, any these are larvae and soon will grow wings and fly away only to come back and lay somemore :-? plus they feed on on smaller things like the daphnia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted February 10, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2005 Since it is 30C here I might just use it as an excuse to go wading to catch them anyway :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agoh Posted February 10, 2005 Report Share Posted February 10, 2005 and to conclude this intense debate...when in doubt, get rid of it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Posted February 10, 2005 Report Share Posted February 10, 2005 sorry rob but i have to disagree , mayflies have three tails and there are so many species in the genus family that they havent been all named yet, a good friend on mine studies macroinvertabrates and i have aided him at auckland uni of tech, its definately a stonefly because of the two tails. infact if you call waitakere city council they will give you a free booklet on them. there are many types of stoneflies, and they all look very different but they are defined by their two tails as mayflies are defined with there 3 tails. I'm all up for healthy debate - please don't interpret this reply as antagonism. I agree that mayflies have 3 tails (as do damselfly larvae) but I wasn't suggesting that Caryl's critter was a mayfly larvae (I only mentioned damselflies since many people mistakenly call them dragonflies and there had been suggestions that the larvae was a dragonfly larvae). I also agree that stoneflies have 2 'tails' - but so do the diving beetle larvae - 2 'tails' does not automatically make it a stonefly larvae (just like two legs does not automatically make me a chicken :lol: ). The book that I'm working from (not a text book, just a little field guide) has the characteristics of stonefly larvae as 2 tails and LONG antennae, characteristics of diving beetle larvae - 2 tails and SHORT antennae. Here's an image of a stonefly larvae: Image curtesy of Waitakere City Council Here's an image of a diving beetle larvae (a larger overseas species, not the same species I suspect Caryl's is): Image courtesy of Missouri Botanical Gardens Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joze Posted February 24, 2005 Report Share Posted February 24, 2005 ok some of you know I am into fishing in a huge way, flyfishing is partly entomology, partly stupid enough to stand in a frozen stream with receding organs. here is a basic Stoneflies (Plecoptera) have 2 tails (cerca), they are omnivores. Mayflies (Ephemeroptera) have 3 cerca and some subspecies have gills in their abdominal segment, they usualy live on algae and debris. They adapt very quickly to changes in environment. Caddis (Trichoptera) dont have cerca, they are also famous for collecting debris and carryng their home on their back, some subspecies gather, some spin cocoons and so on. Dragonflies (Odonata) naiads are carnivorous.Gomphidae will burrow into the mud or silt bottom so that only the eyes and rear are above the surface. Nasty little buggers too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan_au Posted February 26, 2005 Report Share Posted February 26, 2005 Gee, I'm a bit late getting to this strand. But Bob has got it right, the critter bottom center of the pic is the larva of one the diving beetles. Regeardless of species they are perdators of anything small enough to be captured so fish fry make an ideal entre' .. There is also a damzel fly larva in the pic along with all the daphnia. Upper left, long thin greeish thing with bug eyes. Also a predator of small animals. I would siggest that both these predators are growing fat in the pond eating daphnia or anything else they may catch. The use of a fine seive or course netting will allow the daphia through but retain the nasties for disposal or feeding to larger predatory fish. Alan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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