Backswimmer nymph and smooth newt tadpole
A couple from back in April. Thus smooth newt tadpole was fully developed so must have overwintered as a tadpole. There were also a number of small backswimmer (Notonecta) nymphs.
Hydrophilidae larva, backswimmer, pond skater and scarce emerald damselfly nymphs
A few more pond creature aquarium photography shots. First up this small (1cm) Crawling water beetle (Hydrophilidae) larva. The nymph of a backswimmer. A pond skater nymph And a close up of a scarce emerald damselfly (Lestes dryas) nymph.
Striped emperor dragonfly nymph and Water stick insect close ups
Yesterday I had a aquarium photography session. A 4mm long emperor dragonfly nymph turned up with this rather nice striped colouration. I have only seen this colouration once before, again it was an emperor, but that one was over a cm if memory serves. The one yesterday let me get one good side on shot.…
Southern Hawker Aeshna cyanea dragonfly nymph
Some more photos from the aquarium set up in October, this time of a Southern Hawker (Aeshna cyanea) dragonfly nymph.
Smooth newt tadpole Lissotriton vulgaris
A few shots from last October, of a a nearly full grown smooth newt tadpole. I placed some leaves in the aquarium and let it move around, and got some pleasing shots.
Haliplus water beetle larva and phantom midge larva
A couple of Pond creature photos, taken with my aquarium set up a while back. Both of these are under 1cm long and required the use of extension tubes for grater magnification. First up this Haliplus water beetle larva. And a couple of phantom midge larvae close ups
Hyphydrus ovatus and lesser diving beetle Acilius sulcatus female
Some photos using my aquarium set up. One of the few species of the small dytiscid (diving) beetles you can identify without a microscope is Hyphydrus ovatus Unfortunately, like all small dytiscids, they don’t sit and pose for long, and it took my quite a while to get these photos of this 5mm long beetle.…
A Water stick insect Ranartra linearis
I’m a bit of a pond dipper, as some regular readers will have worked out, but there is one species that has always eluded me, the water stick insect. This year I saw a preserved specimen and a captive one (which I never managed to photograph), but never before had I seen a live wild…
Backswimmer
Here’s a slightly different pond creature shot, with a white background. The backswimmer is also a bit different as its Notonecta maculata, rather than the usual N. glauca.
Dytiscus diving beetle larva
Ive posted photos the larva of a lesser water beetle and the great silver water beetle recently, but the most ferocious of them all are the larvae of the great diving beetle species or Dytiscus larvae. If you mange to get one of these in your pond dipping tray, you will soon end up with…