Dragonfly hatched in my basement!

[pondlover]

What do dragonflies do for your pond?

 

[HARO]

Eat mosquitos and look pretty! :wave:
John

 

[addy1]

Eat flies, gnats, all sort of bugs, non stop. I wouldn't ,mind having a few flying around right now, I saw a swarm of gnats out side today, too darn early for that to be happening.

 

[Waterbug]

Dragonfly larva also eat tiny bugs in the pond and in turn are eaten by fish. However, I think their coolness and entertainment value is by far their biggest selling point.

 

[CountryEscape]

And, I don't know if any of you remember, but once when I cleaned my filter from the skimmer, I always rinse it out into a bucket, then use the water on my flowers. After the dirt settled, I noticed all these bright red squiggly larva. I asked and was told they were fine, not to worry, but I don't think anyone suggested they might be dragonfly larva. Well, now I know that's likely what they were. The ones in the basement (BTW, they are STILL hatching, although not seeing any adults flying around, no food for them) look just like the red ones, only they are brown. The dragonflies that are hatching are plain as well. I did see a bright red scarlet colored one last summer, so maybe that's what the red ones are. I will be sure to save them if I find some this year.

 

[johnnyi]

I have "bright red squiggly" worm-like things in the bottom of my pond and they are definitely not dragonfly nymphs. I have no idea what they are, however.

John

 

[CountryEscape]

What I had, John, looked like mosquito larva, but larger. Same thing with what is in my basement filter. I'm not sure, it's very possible the red squiggly things were not dragonfly larva, but I can always hope. Someone posted a picture of a scarlet red dragonfly, called her "Scarlet" even, and I did see one like that once, so then when I had the larva in my basement pond, I wondered if the red larva, which look identical in size and shape to what is in the basement, were the larva from the scarlet red dragonfly! I should look it up, I guess.

 

[Waterbug]

I'd guess midge fly larvae. Commonly called blood worms, but there's dozens of things called blood worms.

 

[johnnyi]

Waterbug,

Your photo is what I have.

John

 

[CountryEscape]

Yep, Waterbug, that's what I had last summer, too. Darn. So, I looked up dragonfly larva, and they are called nymphs, and the pics do not look at all like what I have in my basement pond! At least not the site I'm looking at. It says they can swim unbelievably fast for their size, and have a "jet propulsion" mechanism to push water out of their "butt" (ok, it said their 'anal cavity' but I prefer butt LOL) to give them a burst of speed to catch their prey. It does say that they eat mosquito larva and worms and occasionally small tadpoles and fish before they crawl out of the water to shed their skin and become dragonflies.
So, I guess this summer, if I find these red squiggly things, instead of dumping them on the ground, I'll put them back in the water for the fish and dragonfly larva. And, for the record, I'm pretty sure you posted on my pic of the red wigglers last summer that they were fly larva. I just forgot ..... Thanks for the reminder, Waterbug.

 

[Waterbug]

Damselfly larvae can be fairly monstrous, but dragonfly larvae can be down right scary, at least to me. Although I've handled them many times and never been bit they still seem like monsters. I've kept ponds in the past with thick muck layers on the bottom and there can be surprising number of dragonfly larvae in there. Like half a dozen in a single handful of muck. When stirred up the fish go in and get them.

Of course these don't compare to the Giant Water Bug. They make me scream like a little girl.

 

[johnnyi]

Heh.

 

[CountryEscape]

I read that the larva of the dragonfly are known to bite, but that the adults never do! Thought I'd throw that out for ya, Waterbug. Now, show us a pic of the "Giant Water Bug" that makes your scream like a little girl .... video with sound would be great.

 

[addy1]

I read that the larva of the dragonfly are known to bite, but that the adults never do! Thought I'd throw that out for ya, Waterbug. Now, show us a pic of the "Giant Water Bug" that makes your scream like a little girl .... video with sound would be great.

We need to post it to u-tube...............

 

[Waterbug]

I don't even want to think about it. First time I ever saw a Giant Water Bug I must have been less than 5, in the pond up to my knees hunting tadpoles, nose an inch off the surface and I see this monster...arm span was 3' wide if it were an inch, fangs dripping with blood...probably human blood. Still sends shivers up my spine. I think that was the only one I've ever seen and that was plenty.

And these f'n things fly too. If you're missing a cat, look to the night sky.

Fascinating world, but horrific too.