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Can anyone tell me what this is?

Featured Replies

Hi. I recently bought some hornwart plants online. I stuck one in my tank before cleaning and there's this15760172711518443570484476200187.thumb.jpg.92facbd26d3a67b81db7721aad016794.jpg insect on it I've never seen before. Gonna try to upload video.  I've found 5 so far

SmartSelect_20191210-163905_Gallery.jpg

WOW! 

sorry but I don't know. Never seen one before.

Gee, first time I’ve seen you totally stumped jayc! How big are these critters Steve?

  • Author

They're about a cm long. I tried uploading a video but the file was too large. They have 4 legs in the front by their heads, I watched them swim and they swim with those front 4 legs so they're pretty slow. They try to blend in with the plant. I really had to pull to get them to let go

3 hours ago, Crabclaw said:

Gee, first time I’ve seen you totally stumped jayc!

That's how you know I'm not a bot.

 

I wonder if it is a Brachycentridae (brachycentrid caddisflies) larvae, and it has got creative with what it's sheltering in.

Look up pictures of caddis fly larva pictures and compare.

Edited by jayc

36 minutes ago, supermansteve32 said:

They're about a cm long. I tried uploading a video but the file was too large. They have 4 legs in the front by their heads, I watched them swim and they swim with those front 4 legs so they're pretty slow. They try to blend in with the plant. I really had to pull to get them to let go

Creepy!

 

31 minutes ago, jayc said:

That's how you know I'm not a bot.

 

I wonder if it is a Brachycentridae (brachycentrid caddisflies) larvae, and it has got creative with what it's sheltering in.

Look up pictures of caddis fly larva pictures and compare.

Thought they might be a fly or damselfly/dragonfly larvae.

Very creepy! It could be a type of damselfly?

Whatever it is I would whip them out post haste?

Simon

  • Author

I uploaded a video to YouTube. 

I don't  think it's a dragonfly or damselfly. Those have bulging eyes

Another vote for caddisfly??? I always forget what they're called, but they do build homes for thesemlves which help them blend in and protect them from predators.

It's not a damselfly larvae or Dragon fly larvae. They don't look like that.

 

Have you caught it yet?

If you catch it, see it the long green part is a plant the larvae is hiding in.

If you can separate the green part from the larvae, it's a caddis fly. 

Now I'm all curious to find out what it is.

Edited by jayc

  • Author

It is strange. When I grab one they shrink into the shell/exoskeleton. I can pinch the tip a little and it feels like plastic. If it is a shell they made from their environment all there ones I've seen have the same source. When they swim it does look like it's a kind id worm inside the shell. I've attached a picture of one in the shell. 20191211_214724.thumb.jpg.fca518ef1cf942155149bb0def423916.jpg

20191211_214719.jpg

Did you pull the larva out?

Did it look like this?

The Biomimicry Manual: What Can Paper Wasps Teach Us About ...

 

Caddisfly | EcoSpark

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