A couple of years ago a golf ball sized clump of white fuzz was fished out of some blanket weed on a pond dip. I had no idea what it was until I spotted the brown snorkel sticking out the water: it was the egg cocoon of the great silver water beetle!
Unfortunately it would no longer float the right way up, so I placed it in a pot in some water until a day or so later when it hatched. I moved it into deeper water in a photographic aquarium (which I hadn’t cleaned recently!) and filmed it. I’m not sure this has ever been filmed before so it was rather exciting. Here it is….
Hatching great silver water beetle video from Neil Phillips on Vimeo.
This is a really impressive video. I wish more people could appreciate this kind of thing.
Yes, its amazing how many kids (and adults) have never been pond dipping. Should be mandatory!