ID Please

[mkeeble]

I was pond dipping in this July when amongst various other insects, we collected one I have not been able to identify. It was collected during the hot weather in July when the school pond water level was low. At the same time we collected several rat-tail maggots for the first time. While in the tray, this animal ate a whole maggot.

Sorry the picture is not the greatest, I focus mainly on getting videos of the animals for the primary school website since the children find these more interesting. These clearly show two large serated jaws with which it grabs the prey. It appears to have 3 pairs of short legs.



Any ideas would be greatly appreciated ?

[Graeme Robson]

Nymph of a Anax imperator (Emperor Dragonfly) ???

It's just a guess mind you.

[AndyC]

It looks more like a beetle larvae to me, something like the great diving beetle.
I think the legs should be more obvious though even allowing for the poor quality photo.


Andy

[mkeeble]

Thanks for the responses so far. As you say the legs are not very prominent. I must admit, my thoughts were that it was a fly rather than beetle or dragonfly nymphs.

Here are two links to videos of the animal, first at x60 and the second at x10. I hope the links work and that they provide some further info.

[Malcolm Banks]

Neat videos MKeeble - certainly not a dragonfly nymph. I 'm with AndyC in the beetle camp, but the legs don't look quite right and not a clue which species, could be a large dytiscid?
M