Insect larvae?

[snakeskinner]

Hello all, I was doing my weekly water changes today and my wife was assisting on my 36 gallon tank when she asked "what's on your arm". I found some sort of insect larvae, about 5/8" long clinging to my arm so I caught him on a rag for inspection. It looked like a dragonfly larvae or something. I had found some shells of these on the back of my 55 last year and attributed it to some freezedried bloodworms before I knew what bloodworms were. This is the first live one I've ever found. Once I finished the water change, I dropped him back in the tank and kept him from catching any cover until my giant danio's spotted him and he became lunch. My wife is freaked out and refuses to do any more water changes herself Anyone ever had anything like this in their tanks (I'm in Oklahoma)? I'm still searching for some sort of photo to try and identify this. I know larger dragonfly larvae can catch and eat small fish so I don't want them in my 55 with the tetras and livebearers. I havn't noticed any dragonflies in my apartment but it's possible one could have snuck in I guess. thanks, Kyle

 

[snakeskinner]

I thought it looked like a dragonfly but it appears to maybe be a damselfly larvae. That's the closest thing I can find. We do have a lot of damselflies around here (I always lumped them in with dragonflies). dragonfly larvae are short and flat. This had a typical housefly/dragonfly/damselfly/mayfly shaped head, long stick shaped body and a little stinger or something on his tail and kept raising his tail like a scorpion would to sting. I think that's why my wife was so scared of it. Kyle

 

[mome rath]

Let me know if you find an image.

It's inlikely that a dragonfly snuck into your apartment, since dragonflies are large and FAST. Dragonflies need sunlight to fly as well (the heat provides energy that they require to sustain flight), so when they get trapped indoors they usually die there unless they find their way out relatively soon. This is why they face east in the morning, perching with their wings toward the sun.

Also, many (though not all) dragonflies drop their eggs in the water while flying in tandem. This is something you definitely would have noticed.

A dragonfly pair ovipositing on the water.

A single female laying eggs in the water.

Image of a dragonfly immature, called a naiad.

You said it had a long stick or stinger on its abdomen. If it is an aquatic larva, this aparatus will not be able to sting you, as it is most likely a cercus (used for sensory) or a siphon (like a snorkel).

HTH

m0me rath!

 

[OrionGirl]

Damsel fly larva are often hitch hikers on plants. They ar harmless, unless you have fry--smaller fish may be eaten by large larvae.

 

[snakeskinner]

I definitely ruled out the dragonfly larvae. It looked nothing like the photos I found as well as the one you posted. I couldn't really find a good damselfly larvae photo but the ones I did find look very similar to what I had. Kyle

 

[mome rath]

Damselfly naiads are similar but they are more slender and generally smaller than dragonflies.

That's interesting that they come in on plants.

If it's a late enough instar you could have tried to put it in a shallow dish with an inch or so of water. In the dish, you place some sort of stick (popsicle stick will work) at an incline. Sometimes this will cause the adult to emerge. This worked in 1 out of 3 trials for us over the summer, but with dragonflies.