A few more aquarium shots, of one of the diving beetle larvae I found last week. It was from a pond that had dried out for a few day before being refilled 3 weeks ago, but these larvae either hid in the mud or have grown fast, as they were 2cm long already! EDIT – Its likely these are a temporary pond specialist species of Rhantus sp., a smaller type of diving beetle with adult approx 1cm long (you can see a photo of an adult in the last photo here)
These are wonderful photos, Neil – I had no idea that Diving Beetle larvae looked quite so ferocious. I must do a bit more regular dipping in my pond, just in case there are some lurking there too….
Thanks Vivienne