water bug mystery solved

[cc]

I dropped something into the pond, so I reached in to find it. I found it along with a dead bug, and it looks like the one I saw the last time. Now I know its dragonfly nymph because of the eyes. Put him back into the pond after couple of shots just in case he is not really dead........wishingful thinking.
Here is one the pic I took of him

[uoflkim]

Ewwww, those pointy things on his butt are kinda scarey. LOL

[Esther]

Yup, looks like the guy alright. Was it actually the bug or was it the remains after it hatched?

[Julles]

The butt looks scary??  Look at the JAWS!!

You're lucky to have the nymphs.  Remember it can take 2 years for them to turn to dragonflies, so don't drain the pond!

[Monica]

I don't think I would have picked something that looked like that up

[Esther]

They can give you a very nasty bite also.

[bunny56lbc]

That's one ugly bug ! or dragonfly nymph ...

bonnie

[Sunbeam56]

I, like Esther, am wondering if that is dead, or hatched?

We have little bugs in the water, look like a stinkbug, but spend all their time underwater - their bite feels like a wasp sting....

I prefer dragonfly nymphs. :yes:

[cc]

Its dead alright otherwise I wouldn't be able to pick it up because they swim really fast. So far I haven't been biten by any water bugs yet, thank goodness. I found couple of small leeches on the underside of lily pads, I wouldn't know what they are if Tammy didn't show me.

[Julles]

Oddly enough, yesterday, I found some things that look a whole lot like that.

I had a bucket containing water from rinsing out my filter media a few days earlier, sitting on the deck (will use later for watering the plants).  I had put an old brick into the bucket, to let some algae and "character" grow on it.  Yesterday I cleaned the filter media again, in the same bucket of water.

15 minutes later, I noticed three bugs that look almost exactly like that, at the surface of the water.  I fished them out and moved them to other tubs that won't be drained.  When I came back, there was a fourth one.  Today, there was a fifth, dead, at the surface.

I have no clue what they are or where they came from.  The water in the bucket was only there since Sunday, not long enough for eggs to be laid, hatch and grow to that size.  Those critters could not possibly have come out of the filter media - it's too fine for them to be inside of it.  The brick was clean - no nymphs or eggs on it.

Totaly mystery.  I just hope they ARE dragonfly nymphs, and that they morph soon.

 Earlier in the week, I did find a very small dragon or damselfly, pale green and very frail, as if just hatched and unable to fly well.  Maybe some are hatching just about this time of year??

Edit to add:

I just Googled... It's a dragonfly nymph all right:   http://www.bugsurvey.nsw.gov.au/html/popups/bpedia_08_tol_dr-ny-a.html

[Julles]

I think I know what happened.... When I cleaned my pond on Sunday, I completely emptied the filter, including all the gunk on the bottom, and all that went into my 5-gallon bucket.  I'll just betcha, some dragonfly eggs had gotten sucked up into the filter, and then hatched there inside, and were living at the bottom, as nymphs.  When I emptied the filter into the bucket, they went along.  Then, maybe they were ready to hatch into dragonflies, so they came up to the top.  Or, maybe when I added water from the hose, they were irritated by the chlorine, and that drove them to the top.  Either way, I hope they like the new home I gave them (the nearby lily tubs) and that they transform into adults soon.