Great silver water beelte
Here a re few photos of Britain’s heaviest insect, the great silver water beetle Hydrophilus piceus, all taken in a photographic aquarium.
Hatching great silver water beetles video
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…
Great silver water beetle larva feeding on wandering pond snail
Following form my last post, here are the photos from that feeding great silver water beetle. You can really see those asymmetrical mandibles in this close up. Which they use to eat the snail. It would occasionally uncurl to get some air from the surface. Before recurling around its wandering pond snail prey. In this…
Great silver water beetle larva feeding on pond snail video
Here is a video I made of a great silver water beetle larva (Hydrophilus piceus) feeding on a wandering pond snail (Radix labiata). It has an interesting method of feeding where, after grabbing the snail in its unsymmetrical mouthparts, it then curls its body around it to get a better hold as is devours it!…