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chickencoupe1

Bugs and Heebeejeebees

chickencoupe
10 years ago

Okay, I've been trying to find these online for about 2 years. I cannot find it or identify it. I have underwater bugs in my rain tubs. I'm really kinda terrified of these things because their larvae look exactly like something I saw in a horror movie once. Those were white with huge pincers and up to 2 inches long (in the heat of summer).

Now, I'm seeing these 2" bugs with silvery surface and yellow patterns. They look like a soldier bug under water. I cannot get a pic because they skirt to the bottom when I approach and I'm afraid my anxiousness might cause my phone to drop in the water.

I hate these!!

Of course, I don't know what I'm doing with this other than capturing water. Right now it's clear and fresh from the rains. I bring it up because I'm planning on a better rain water capturing system and some grey water lines.

Should I do something about these bugs? OMG... they're horrid. I get the heebeejeebees just thinking about them.

Comments (11)

  • chickencoupe
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    doesn't look so mean without the water magnifying it.

  • chickencoupe
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Interesting how, when I saw this dragonfly, I felt more secure. Perhaps I have been breeding dragonflies without knowing. And the other bug is it's predator?

  • Okiedawn OK Zone 7
    10 years ago

    Bon, It could be that the strange little insect you're seeing is the larval form of the dragonflies. I've linked a photo of a dragonfly larvae below for comparison. Even if your odd little bug is not a great match for the one in the linked photo, it might be worth your while to Google and find more photos of dragonfly larvae at different stages and sizes to see if you can find a match that way.

    With a greywater system, one common practice is to have a screen top (like window screen material, for example) that will allow water to enter but which will keep the insects out. Without a screen-type top to keep insects out, your tubs of water could turn into mosquito-breeding factories. I put Mosquito dunks in my rainbarrels to keep the skeeters from breeding in there. With open tubs that I use to catch the water and hold it so the wildlife can drink it, I don't have screens over the tops, of course, and every insect under the sun gets into that water. I just ignore them since I cannot prevent them in that instance.

    Dawn

    Here is a link that might be useful: Photo of a Dragonfly Larvae

  • helenh
    10 years ago

    This is a dragonfly nymph

  • helenh
    10 years ago

    This is the adult emerging. Very interesting things happen in the water I save.

    .

  • helenh
    10 years ago

    Sorry for all the pictures. I love my little froggies

  • GreatPlains1
    10 years ago

    One of the cable channels used to have a show called "Infested". I think it was "Animal Planet". That thing looks like those creepy clear skinned grey type of crickets that were infesting a house in an area where some drainpipes had been leaking for years except there were millions of them. I can't remember the name of the crickets but they were creepy gross like they never saw daylight and lived their entire lives in the damp and total darkness.

  • helenh
    10 years ago

    Dragonfly nymphs split out of their skeletons as they grow. The old skeletons aren't pretty and they can be next to the bug that just came out of them making for lots of legs.

  • chickencoupe
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I went back. I tried to scare it off. It was dead (or just a shell). This is the area where I see the most dragonflies.

    The mosquitoes haven't been bad this year. The rain maxing and flushing it out probably helped.

    Great plains. I did a search for "water cricket". Except for color, it does look like one of those!

    The larvae does look very similar to that dragonfly numph, too. But gosh.. .it was white and had huge pincers (like some of those dragonfly nymphs.)

    I feel better. They're not some sort of mutant monster species ... like an insect-version of "Toxic Avenger" evolving because of my neglecting the waterhole.

    I'll be more observant next year. I'm sure these guys are keeping birds busy. I've seem them dive-bomb.

    I should devise a perch in the middle of the tank.

  • helenh
    10 years ago

    The dragonfly nymphs will eat the mosquitoes. If you don't have mosquitoes something is eating them.

    Here is a link that might be useful: u tube dragonfly nymph eating mosquito larvae

    This post was edited by helenh on Wed, Sep 25, 13 at 21:19

  • chickencoupe
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Cool videos! All the bugs this year are crazy. Glad this is some of the good guys.

    I don't know about ya'll, but I no longer have hoppers. Took a walk with the kids yesterday.

    Locusts. They're all locusts. Thank goodness they're not in swarms.

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