Is this critter a dragonfly nymph or something else?

[Mmathis]

Sorry, but I have to take a break from this -- it really is creeping me out!

I did notice this about its behavior: it stayed at the top of the water, always right up to the edge of the bucket. It swam away from me when I tried to make it move, but it never dove or went too deep in the water.

And, from the pix I've looked at, I made a sketch of how my "bug" is different from most others. Notice the shape of the body and the placement of the legs....

 

[michey1st]

It will be interesting to see what (if anything) your tadpole-munching thing turns in to!

One of our UK ponders posted here last year that he got bit by a saucer bug while working in his pond... after looking them up and reading about them, I was super paranoid about wading into my own ponds. Come to find that they are UK only (that's what wikipedia told me, anyways).

In general, I don't mind bugs (or snakes, for that matter), so long as they don't hurt me -- I don't bug them, they tend not to bug me (although I did kill a milkweed beetle yesterday and today I diced up an earthworm for the fish -- BUT, it was an invasive jumping earthworm so I came to terms with it ;-).

Now that we live on the edge of the woods, i'm seeing crazy insects i've never seen before -- kinda neat!

Ok, thread hijack over!

 

[Mmathis]

I've narrowed it down to something in the "water bug" family. @johan, and everyone else, what do you think about these pictures compared to mine [posts #13 & 16, above]?

The one called "giant water bug" actually looks more similar except that they aren't found on this continent. Thank goodness! They get inches long, and there were pix that showed one killing a snake and one overpowering a small turtle. I would have nightmares for sure......not for the sake of my turtles [they aren't aquatic], but for ME!

The one in the group called "creeping water bug" [AKA "creepy" water bug] is probably going to be the closest match. Close enough that I'm satisfied -- unless someone comes up with an even better match.

And supposedly these things carry their eggs on their backs.....I did see something a few weeks ago, among the rocks on the pond edge, that I thought was a spider and it looked like it had eggs or young on its back.....

GIANT WATER BUG......

CREEPY, er, I mean, CREEPING WATER BUG.....

 

[johan]

Truth is, I really don't know and looking through the instar stages makes them all look relevant candidates - seems to me that the claspers on your thing look more like a giant water bug nymph than a creeping water bug! Not something I'd want to meet in a dark alley if I were a tadpole...

 

[Nepen]

I was watching my pond last night for some nymph, have not seen any but I saw tons of dragon fly about. My pond might be a bit too new for the nymph to be that big though.

But I have TONS of cope gray tree frog tads. They are mainly in my bog. Most in my pond are fish food...

 

[Mmathis]

@johan I was thinking that, in general, it does more closely resemble the giant water bug, which I certainly hope it isn't due to the size they can grow to be! But most of the articles I read commented on HOW MANY different varieties there were, so maybe it's not the "giant" one, but a smaller, similar-looking relative. And now that I think about it, I did find a larger "water bug" looking thing [maybe the size of my thumbnail] that was living in a bucket of rainwater -- there were mosquito larvae in the water and I was netting the larvae to feed the fish as a treat. I think I turned that creature loose in the pond!!!!!

OK, I realize that "nature" is a balance, but hope I didn't just put my fish -- and any potential future fry -- at risk!

@Nepen My most current crop of taddies are Cope's -- I really like those little frogs! I guess that's why frogs/toads lay so many eggs in the first place! On the bright side, when I found this mass of eggs, I distributed them among other places, so maybe there will be survivors after all.

 

[HARO]

I've narrowed it down to something in the "water bug" family. @johan, and everyone else, what do you think about these pictures compared to mine [posts #13 & 16, above]?

The one called "giant water bug" actually looks more similar except that they aren't found on this continent. Thank goodness! They get inches long, and there were pix that showed one killing a snake and one overpowering a small turtle. I would have nightmares for sure......not for the sake of my turtles [they aren't aquatic], but for ME!

The one in the group called "creeping water bug" [AKA "creepy" water bug] is probably going to be the closest match. Close enough that I'm satisfied -- unless someone comes up with an even better match.

And supposedly these things carry their eggs on their backs.....I did see something a few weeks ago, among the rocks on the pond edge, that I thought was a spider and it looked like it had eggs or young on its back.....

GIANT WATER BUG......
View attachment 83243

CREEPY, er, I mean, CREEPING WATER BUG.....
View attachment 83244

Not found on this continent? Which continent do you live on, TM? The Giant Water Bug is found throughout the USA, and even a LITTLE BIT up into Canada!
John

 

[Mmathis]

Not found on this continent? Which continent do you live on, TM? The Giant Water Bug is found throughout the USA, and even a LITTLE BIT up into Canada!
John

Ooops! Well, maybe I was reading an old article, but it said it was only found in S. America. I'll double-check that, though [unless I imagined it].

 

[Nepen]

My husband was complaining the other day about how noisy the frogs were once we got the pond... I love those calls thought

 

[tbendl]

I was able to observe this via the "macro" function on my iPhone camera [it's an add-on camera, not the original]

TM what is the name if the app?

 

[Mmathis]

TM what is the name if the app?

Not a clue -- I just call it my "other camera."

 

[Mmathis]

@tbendl Sorry, I wasn't finished.... Here's a screenshot from my app page.

 

[tbendl]

Oh ok, I'll check it out, I had a friend asking about it the other day and remembered you said you had a macro app. Thanks TM

 

[Mmathis]

Oh ok, I'll check it out, I had a friend asking about it the other day and remembered you said you had a macro app. Thanks TM

This is the app I have. The macro wasn't always there so must have been added in with an update. I'm actually impressed with it.