UK water scorpions

[Morpheus uk]

Went for a walk up the local reservoir earlier today and i found a colony of water scorpions in a ditch

The ditch was formed by those June floods way back, and since then the ditch has flooded and created a small pond with all sorts of wildlife ive hardly been able to see before.

I can only ever remember finding one water scorpion before and that was way back when i was a tiddler and kept it in a pop bottle...in the sun

So i got a bit over excited i think and grabbed a whole bunch

Im hoping to watch their life cycle, i got bunch of various nymphs and 2 adults, i was hoping to witness a full generation and a bit, then release them back.

At the moment their in a small tub with about an inch of water, but this is just what i put them in until i get something sorted, their feeding on mosquito larvae and a water spider, and they fed on them in the first five minutes ive brought them home

Its going to take a little while longer than i thought to get their set up done so i decided i might aswell take a couple of pics.

Not the best of pics though, i`ll get some better ones when i have to chance.

 

[superfreak]

amazing! theyre so cool!

 

[ABbuggin]

cool

The water scops I find look a lot like walking sticks.

 

[PhilinYuma]

I used to catch and keep these when I was a kid in England. They were a lot larger then, though, in the early Cenozoic.

 

[AmandaLynn]

Whoa! I've never seen those before.They are pretty neat!

 

[Katnapper]

They were a lot larger then, though, in the early Cenozoic.

 

[Rick]

coolThe water scops I find look a lot like walking sticks.

Same here but I have seen this type too.

 

[revmdn]

Never seen those before. Neat-o.

 

[cloud jaguar]

I used to catch and keep these when I was a kid in England. They were a lot larger then, though, in the early Cenozoic.

rofl :lol:

 

[jameslongo]

Cool bugs! I can't see their tails though. They usually have a breathing apparatus sticking out from their bum, don't they?

There are 2 subfamilies of water-scorps: the fatties (Nepinae) & needles (Ranatrinae).

Phil: and you didn't have fly-spray back then, did you?