What animal is this?

Dave Kirkeby
Dave Kirkeby
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Published 2015-01-17
Video about a strange creature that I found mixed in with some mosquito larvae. Is it an insect larvae?
All Comments (7)
  • @davefoc
    HI, the identification of the animal has been discussed in a thread I started on the International Skeptics Forum here: www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showthread.ph… The consensus seems to be that the creature is definitely some kind of fly larva. Crane fly, moth fly, black fly and dance fly larva were suggested. (bot fly was also suggested but that seemed to be more an attempt to bring up the most disgusting possibility than a serious suggestion). I liked the moth fly suggestion because I found an image that was a pretty close match on this site: www.aecos.com/CPIE/inv_10.html Red Baron Farm is pretty sure that it is a crane fly. That idea was bolstered a bit by my buddy's comment that some kinds of crane fly larva eat mosquito larva and that was perhaps an explanation of why the mosquito larva moved off so quickly when it touched the thing. A common myth about crane flies is that they eat mosquitoes. But it seems like there is some truth to the myth if one is talking about the larvae of some species. Crane flies are those things that look like giant mosquitoes and that are sometime called daddy long legs.
  • @davefoc
    I received this comment from a crane fly specialist that I contacted. "Hi Dave,   I looked [at] your video and the larva in question is a fly larva but is not a crane fly larva.  Without a clear view of the structure of the head it is difficult to tell the group it belongs to.  The structures you marked eyes are actually the spiracular discs at the tail end of the larva.   Chen Young" So the general consensus that it was a fly larva and that the eye like things were spiracles seems to be correct. It also sounds like we may not get much closer on pinning down the identification than aquatic fly larva except that based on this, it is probably not a crane fly. I'm surprised that that a more precise ID of what to me is such a distinctive looking creature couldn't have been made but maybe it's not all that distinctive for a fly larva that lives in water.